Drawn  byl  ICeo.  Morroiv 

"We  pushed  our  hats  as'de,  peeped  over  and  saw  an  old 
stag,  a  younger  one,  and  a  doe  " 


WILD  SPORTS  OF 
THE  WEST 

BY  Wr  Hr  MAXWELLVv/" 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION 
BY  THE  RT.  HON.  THE  EARL 
OF  DUNRAVEN  K.P.,  P.C.,  C.M.G 


NEW     YORK: 

FREDERICK    A.    STOKES    COMPANY 

PUBI.ISHERS 

iiOSTON  COLLEGE  UBRaHY 
CBKsi'biirr  HiTT    „,.„„ 


# 


Printed  by  The 

Educationai,  Company 

OE     Ireland     I,imited 

at  The  TAI.BOT  Press 

Dubinin 


3 


¥^V 


3K  \^1 

PREFATORY  NOTE. 


William  Hamilton  Maxwell  (1792- 1850)  born  at 
Newry,  County  Down,  was  the  son  of  James  Maxwell, 
of  the  Maxwells  of  Nithsdale.  His  mother  was  the 
daughter  of  William  Hamilton  of  good  family.  He 
entered  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  at  the  age  of  15,  and 
graduated  there  with  distinction,  and  afterwards  served 
in  the  Peninsular  Campaigns  and  at  Waterloo,  as  a  Captain 
in  the  88th  Regiment. 

On  the  disbanding  of  the  forces,  he  returned  to  Newry 
and  spent  some  years  desultorily,  reading,  hunting  and 
shooting,  and  got  into  money  difficulties,  but  mended 
his  fortune  by  marriage  and  took  holy  orders,  obtaining 
the  living  of  Ballagli,  in  Connemara,  a  place  without  a 
congregation,  but  full  of  game. 

Here  he  v/rote  his  first  novel,  "  O'Hara  "  ;  *"  Wild 
Sports  of  the  West,"  praised  by  Professor   Wilson  in 

Noctes  Ambrosianae  "  as  the  work  of  a  true  sportsman  ; 
"  Stories  of  Waterloo,"  his  best  known  work  ;  a  "  Life 
of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,"  repeatedly  reprinted  ;  "A 
History  ot  the  Rebellion  in  1798";  and  was  also  the 
author  of  a  variety  ot  sketches  and  novels  chiefly  on 
sporting  and  mihtary  subjects,  and  many  magazine 
articles  It  may  be  said  of  him  that  if  Maginn's 
"  O'Doherty  "  suggested  the  Irish  military  novel. 
Maxwell  anticipated  his  friend  and  admirer,  Charles 
Lever,  in  this  literary  direction. 

In  appearance  Maxwell  was  tali  and  good-looking, 
a  brilliant  conversationalist,  and  an  agreeable  host  and 
guest 

But  he  made  no  provision  for  the  future,  and  after 
spending  several  years  in  ill-health  and  distress,  retired 
to  Musselburgh,  near  Edinburgh,  where  he  died  on 
29th  December,  1 850.  ^  4  cJ  4 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Chapter  I. — Autobiography j 

Chapter  II. — Connaught  

Chapter  III. — Journey  Continued      ^3 

Chapter  IV. — The  Mad  Major           ,,,  22 

Chapter  V. — Progress  into  Terra  Incognita             28 

Chapter  VI. — Hooking  my  first  Salmon     ^. 

Chapter  VII.— The  Blind  Seal            ^o 

Chapter  VIII. — Piscatory  Disquisitions        .3 

Chapter  IX. — Sporting  Topography  of  Mayo         e. 

Chapter  X. — Salmon  Fishing  Described       5^ 

Chapter  XL — Preparations  for  Mullet  Fishing         5« 

Chapter  XII. — ^Fish  Found  in  Mayo -5 

Chapter  XIII. — Grouse  Shooting       g- 

Chapter  XIV. — The  Otter-Hunter's  History           gj 

Chapter  XV. — Red  Deer         gq 

Chapter  XVI. — A  Blank  Fishing  Day         jo^ 

Chapter  XVII. — Visiting  Achil          jj^ 

Chapter  XVIII.— The  E)agle's  CUff 123 

Chapter  XIX. — Signs  of  Fish             .,.  j^S 

Chapter  XX.— The  Colonel's  Story              i^g 

Chapter  XXI. — A  Brave  Resistance             i52 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 

that  but  for  this  book  the  vivacious  works  of  Miss 
Somerville  and  "  Martin  Ross  " — to  say  nothing  of 
Miss  Jane  Barlow  and  Cannon  Hannay — might  never 
have  been  written.  But  he  is  to  a  certain  extent,  their 
forerunner  ;  and,  to  a  still  greater  degree,  his  book  is 
the  forerunner  of  such  stories  as  '*  Handy  Andy," 
"  Harry  Lorrequer,"  and  *'  Castle  Rackrent."  And, 
indeed,  as  pointed  out  in  the  preface.  Lever  drew  from 
personal  intercourse  with  him,  as  well  as  from  a  full 
acquaintance  with  his  Irish  writings,  the  desire  to  follow 
him  in  the  same  field  of  fiction. 

One  great  advantage  of  the  book  is  that  it  is  written 
from  the  outside  point  of  view — the  standpoint  of  an 
intelligent  Anglo-Irishman  educated  at  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  and  that  the  author  visited  Connaught  much 
as  an  explorer  might  visit  a  newly- discovered  savage 
island.  We  hear  too  much,  perhaps,  of  the  value  of 
observations  written  from  the  inside.  These  are, 
strictly  speaking,  not  observations  at  all,  but  expo- 
sitions ;  and  although  they  have  their  place  in  pro- 
viding the  material  from  which  full  knowledge  of  a 
subject  must  be  derived,  it  is  the  outsider  who  really 
sees  a  thing  as  a  whole,  in  its  truest  proportions  and 
in  reasonable  relationship  to  the  rest  of  the  world 

It  is  obvious  that  our  author  has  but  a  very  external 
knowledge  of  the  Connemara  people  of  his  day.  He 
did  not  know  their  thoughts,  and  might,  perhaps,  have 
been  surprised  if  he  could  have  learned  their  view  of 
him.     To  him  they  were  just  the  natives  of  the  place, 


INTRODUCTION,  VU 

and  their  ways  and  habits  were  of  small  importance 
compared  with  those  of  salmon,  grouse,  snipe,  and  the 
red  deer.  But  he  tells  us  what  he  saw,  and  a  good  deal 
of  what  he  heard  ;  his  narrative,  so  far  as  is  possible 
for  a  writer  of  the  period,  is  a  straightforward  one,  and 
has  the  intrinsic  value  of  every  document  which  sets 
forth  a  piece  of  life  that  a  man  has  actually  experienced. 

The  author  describes  a  community  in  course  of  trans- 
ition. The  days  of  the  hard  riding,  hard  drinking, 
duelling,  lavishly  hospitable  landed  gentry,  ruling  over 
contented  tenants  and  a  whole  host  of  dependents 
and  hangers-on,  in  a  country  where  the  King's  writ 
did  not  run,  had  not  passed  away.  The  clan  system 
still  existed,  though  in  a  degenerate  form.  The  land- 
lord, "  the  master,"  was  chief,  and  held  tenaciously 
to  illegal  rights  frankly  recognised  by  the  clan.  When, 
for  instance,  a  portmanteau,  the  property  of  a  visitor 
to  the  Lodge,  was  abstracted  en  route,  there  was  no 
question  of  appealing  to  the  law  and  of  setting  the 
police  in  motion.  An  outrage  to  the  authority  of  the 
chief  had  been  committed  and  the  clan  took  it  up.  An 
armed  emissary  was  dispatched,  and  presently  returned 
with  the  portmanteau   and  an   apology. 

Fosterage  was  still  deemed  a  tie  as  strong  or  stronger 
than  one  of  blood.  Hennessey  *'  my  foster  brother," 
was  loved  and  protected.  One  abduction  and  three 
homicides  were  chargeable  against  him,  "  He  had  been 
unfortunate,"  poor  man,  In  fact  the  law — the  written 
law  and  the  legal  executive  were  ignored  or  derided. 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION. 

Custom,  the  unwritten  law  and  the  legal  executive 
were  ignored  or  derided.  Custom,  the  unwritten  law 
of  the  master  sanctioned  by  illegal  physical  force, 
prevailed.  Private  quarrels  were  speedily  settled  by 
a  duel.  Family  feuds  and  clan  feuds  were  of  frequent 
occurrence  resulting  in  faction  fights,  many  broken  heads 
and  some  loss  of  life.  As  though  such  causes  of  quarrel 
did  not  afford  sufficient  opportunities  for  a  fight,  mullet 
fishing  was,  for  some  inscrutable  reason,  deemed  a 
fitting  occasion  for  a  small  battle  between  the  retainers 
of  neighbouring  landlords.  The  people  believed  that 
they  had  a  prescriptive  right  to  rob  mullet  nets,  and, 
in  consequence,  would  never  be  at  the  trouble  of  setting 
them  unless  they  had  a  sufficiently  strong  party  to 
protect  the  fish  when  taken.  Of  course  the  dependents 
of  one  landlord  would  not  rob  his  nets,  but  they  would 
rob  his  neighbours  ;  the  neighbouring  tribe  would 
retaliate  ;  and  on  the  occasion  of  a  great  catch  there 
were  plenty  of  broken  heads,  and  sometimes  not  a  few 
gunshot  wounds.  One  of  these  adventures  involved 
the  summonsing  of  our  author's  host,  "  and  it  cost  me 
a  cool  hundred  before  I  got  clear  of  the  Honourablei 
Justices." 

What  will  at  once  strike  the  reader  is  the  extraordinary 
change  that  has  taken  place  in  Ireland.  When  these 
letters  were  penned,  the  only  social  system  in  Connaught 
worth  the  name  was  the  clan  system  ;  and  in  a  day  of 
peasant  proprietors,  co-operative  agriculture.  Land 
Commissions,   Congested   District   Boards   and   all   the 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

Other  agencies  by  which  the  complicated  social  machinery 
of  Ireland  is  at  present  conducted,  it  is  interesting 
to  look  back  to  this  time,  such  a  little  while  ago,  when  the 
only  people  of  any  importance  were  the  landlord,  the 
priest,  and  (in  a  lesser  degree)  the  excise  officer.  The 
tribal  picture  presented  in  the  book  is  definite  and 
complete.  Within  and  around  the  residence  of  the 
landlord  was  collected  a  host  of  dependents  and  hangers- 
on,  some  with  duties  and  some  with  none,  but  all 
apparently  with  privileges  ;  all  dependent  directly 
on  the  landlord  for  shelter,  food  and  drink,  game,  the 
produce  of  lakes,  rivers  and  the  sea,  and  illicitly  dis- 
tilled whiskey. 

It  must  have  been  a  happy  life  for  them.  They  lived, 
as  their  landlords  lived,  in  a  world  of  perpetual  sport  ; 
when  there  had  been  a  great  kill  there  was  a  great  feast, 
and  when  there  was  a  great  feast  there  was  a  great 
carouse.  The  successful  running  of  a  smuggled 
cargo  of  French  brandy  was  the  occasion  of  jubilation 
throughout  the  entire  countryside,  in  which  the  magis- 
trate landlord  took  part.  And  on  the  days  when  the 
weather  was  too  severe  for  outdoor  sport  the  turf  was 
piled  high  on  the  hearth,  fishing-rods  and  guns  were 
brought  out  and  cleaned,  and  the  whole  energies  of  the 
tribe  given  up  to  the  overhaul  of  sporting  apparatus 
of  every  kind. 

A  social  condition  existed  which  certainly  would  not 
appeal  to  the  moralist  or  economist  of  the  present  day, 
but  on  the  whole  the  people  were  happy  and  contented 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

in  it.  The  landed  interest — owners  and  tenants — were 
well-to-do,  and  there  was  rough  plenty  for  the  paid  and 
unpaid  retinue  of  the  landlord  in  those  days  before  the 
"  piping  times  of  peace  "  had  brought  down  prices  by 
the  run,  and  the  great  famine  and  its  consequences 
had  ruined  the  gentry  and  broken  the  hearts  of  the 
people. 

For  those  who  were  not  afraid  of  roughing  it  in  a 
comfortable  way,  it  was  a  sportsman's  paradise.  It 
is  true  that  the  actual  appetite  for  killing  seems  to  have 
been  indulged  in,  rather  childishly.  '*  It  was  a  bright 
and  cheerful  day  ;  the  sun  sparkled  on  the  blue  water, 
which,  unruffled  by  the  gentle  breeze,  rose  and  fell 
in  the  long  and  gentle  undulations  which  roll  in  from 
the  westward  when  the  Atlantic  is  at  rest.  While  puUing 
to  the  cove,  we  amused  ourselves  by  shooting  puffins 
as  they  passed  us,  or  trying  our  rifles  at  a  distant  seal, 
while  my  kinsman's  anecdotes  whiled  away  the  tedium 
of  the  voyage."  Puffin  shooting,  and  "  trying  rifles 
at  a  distant  seal  "  would  not  be  regarded  to-day  as 
very  worthy  occupations  for  a  true  sportsman,  especially 
in  a  country  which  abounded  with  such  variety 
of  legitimate  game.  On  the  very  day,  for  example, 
on  which  this  incident  is  described,  a  party  enjoyed 
the  two  very  difterent  sports  of  coursing  and  mullet 
fishing,  and,  after  a  magnificent  run  with  Irish  and 
English  greyhounds,  netted  upwards  of  a  hundred 
mullet  weighing  from  four  to  ten  pounds  each. 

Abundance  of  interesting  lore  is  to  be  found  in  these 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

pages  for  the  sportsman  of  any  country  ;  particularly 
for  him  who  still  frequents  the  mountains  and  streams  of 
Connemara.  The  wild  red  deer  of  Ireland  are  all  gone 
now  ;  they  were  scarce  in  those  days,  but  afforded 
splendid  sport.  The  account  of  the  pike  on  Lough 
Corrib  is  extremely  interesting,  as  also  are  the  notes 
on  the  trout  found  in  the  high  mountain  loughs.  "  Two 
loughs,  situated  in  the  same  valley,  and  divided  only 
by  a  strip  of  moorland  not  above  two  yards  across, 
united  by  the  same  rivulet,  and  in  depth  and  soil  on 
bottom  apparently  similar,  were  found  to  produce 
fish  as  utterly  different  from  each  other  as  it  is  possible 
for  fish  of  the  same  species  to  be  ;  in  the  centre  lake  the 
trout  were  ill-shapen  and  dark-coloured,  with  large 
heads,  lean  bodies,  and  little  fight  in  them.  In  the 
adjacent  lough  they  were  golden  and  pellucid  in  colour 
with  bright  vermillion  spots,  compact  in  shape,  and 
vigorous  fighters  ;  and  as  much  superior  at  table  as  they 
were  in  the  water."  Very  interesting,  too,  is  the  account 
of  a  lake  a  hundred  feet  higher  in  the  mountains  pro- 
ducing trout  remarkable  both  for  their  size  and  for 
their  pecuHarity  in  never  rising  at  a  fly  or  taking  bait ; 
and  which  were  yet  frequently  observed  by  the  herdsmen 
rising  over  the  water,  or,  as  they  said,  "  tumbling  about 
like  dogs."  The  local  assumption  was  that  there  was 
a  sea-horse  or  other  devil  in  the  lake  which  prevented 
the  fish  from  rising  to  the  fly. 

Charming,    indeed,    is    the    author's    picture    of   the 
sporting  lodge  in  the  wilds  of  Erris,  the  home  of  his 


Xll  INTRODUCTION. 

Irish  kinsman,  which  was  the  head-quarters  whence  the 
sporting    expeditions    described    in    his    narrative    were 
made  ;    and   pleasant,   indeed,   to   his   city   eyes,   must 
have  been  the  sight  of  the  narrow  creek,  with  the  snug 
thatched   dwelUng  at  the   head  of  it  where,   although 
the     Atlantic    spray    sometimes     drifted    against     the 
windows,  a  great  cliff  broke  the  force  of  the  sea  winds, 
and  a  high  hill  on  the  land  side  sheltered  it  from  the 
north.     In  the  chilly  evenings  a  turf  fire  burned  in  the 
parlour  hearth  ;    and  there,  by  the  light  of  dried  bog- 
deal  added  to  the  embers  instead  of  candles,  the  sports- 
man and  his  guests  sat  over  excellent  claret  that  had 
never  paid  the  revenue  a  farthing,  or  brewed  toddy  from 
the  more  potent  spirit  which  was  at  once  the  produce 
and   scourge   of  the   district.      The   long   roar   of  the 
Atlantic  breakers  was  their  lullaby  at  night ;    the  cries 
of  wild  birds  and  the  cheerful  hum  of  the  farmyard 
awoke  them  in  the  morning.     From  the  windows  they 
could    see    the    salmon    flinging    themselves    over    the 
smooth  tide  as  they  hurried  to  the  mouth  of  their  native 
river,  or  trace  the  outline  of  the  Mayo  hills  where  the 
original   red   deer   of  Ireland   were   still   existing.     No 
wonder  the  supposed  stranger  was  delighted  with  the 
place,  and  in  the  course  of  a  day  or  two,  had  thoroughly 
domesticated  himself  in  it ;    no  wonder,  after  expedi- 
tions to  the  mountain  hut  where  they  encamped  for  a 
week  or  two,  when  in  quest  of  the  remoter  game,  or 
after  an  expedition  to  Achil  after  grouse  or  sea-fowl 
or  rabbits,  or  snipe,  or  cock,  he  returned  to  it,  as  to  a 


INTRODUCTION.  XIU 

home.  It  was  a  strenuous  life,  and  a  very  delightful 
one  ;  they  were  out  all  day  on  the  mountains  or  along 
the  shore  ;  came  back  at  nightfall  with  full  bags  with 
which  to  replenish  their  wild  larder  ;  and  if  they  held 
something  like  a  carouse  after  dinner,  the  long  day's 
exercise  in  the  wonderful  air  seems  to  have  rendered 
both  mind  and  body  immune  from  any  ill-effects.  Be 
it  noted  in  passing  that  there  was  no  Eve  in  this  paradise. 

The  human  aspect  of  things  is  always  interesting 
when  politics  and  economics  leave  us  cold  ;  and  it  is 
the  scenery,  the  sport,  the  legendary  lore,  the  lives  and 
habits  of  the  people  that  chiefly  engage  our  author. 
Politics  and  economics  he  leaves  on  one  side  for  the  very 
good  reason  that  they  were  non-existent  in  the  part 
of  Connaught  which  he  visited  ;  and  people  who  enjoy 
playing  the  game  of  "  Then  and  Now,"  of  comparing 
things  as  they  were  with  things  as  they  are,  will  find 
this  book  a  document  of  great  value,  enabHng  them  to 
estimate  to  what  extent  a  century's  march  of  civiliza- 
tion has  affected  the  remoter  west  of  Ireland. 

The  book  teems  with  incidents  of  sport,  shooting, 
hunting,  coursing,  fishing  on  sea  and  river,  and  with 
many  pertinent  remarks  on  the  fauna  and  scenery  of 
the  country.  How  far  these  descriptions  are  applic- 
able to-day  is  for  those  who  visit  the  wild  west  to  say. 
Socially  and  economically  the  Connemara  of  to-day 
would  be  unrecognisable  to  one  who  visited  it  nearly 
a  century  ago.  Good  roads  now  traverse  the  then 
unmapped   and   trackless   wilderness,   and   good   hotels 


XIV  INTRODUCTION. 

minister  to  the  wants  of  the  modern  traveller.  The 
ragged  and  somewhat  irresponsible  bands  of  personal 
retainers  have  dwindled  down  to  harmless  necessary 
giUies  and  guides.  Produce,  such  as  it  is,  can  find  a 
market,  and  barley  and  oats  not  needed  for  home  con- 
sumption are  no  longer  destined  to  the  illicit  still.  The 
wild  red  deer  is  long  ago  extinct,  and  the  most  industrious 
trapper  would  fail  to  make  a  living  now-a-days  out 
of  killing  otters  ;  but  seals  are  numerous,  salmon  leap 
their  way  upwards  from  the  sea,  and  the  eagle  may 
reward  the  vigilance  of  the  tourist,  The  same  great 
Atlantic  billows  thunder  against  the  same  stupendous 
cliffs.     Mountain,  lake  and  river  are  unchanged. 

The  author  is  fond  of  introducing  legends  and  anec- 
dotes. Among  the  latter,  the  story  of  '*  The  Man  Who 
Would  Not  Do  For  Galv/ay  "  is  a  fine  example  of  the 
kind  of  Irish  anecdote  which  remained  very  popular 
for  many  a  year  afterwards  ;  and  the  account  of  Mr. 
Dawkins,  of  Toole  Castle,  and  how  he  was  eaten  up 
by  the  sporting  friends  of  his  wife,  and  finally  ruined 
in  mind  and  estate,  is  a  convincing  instance  of  that 
riotous  extravagance  both  of  narrative  and  of  life  in 
which  writers  upon  Ireland  of  the  period  delighted. 
Much  more  real  and  quite  beautiful  in  its  way  is  the 
account  of  the  death  of  Antony,  the  otter-killer.  In 
fact,  this  old  peasant,  so  full  of  unselfish  afliection,  so 
wise  in  the  lore  of  the  mountains,  the  rivers  and  the 
lakes,  and  so  skilful  in  his  craft,  is  the  one  real  portrait 
that  stands  out  in  the  book.     His  simple  devotion  to 


INTRODUCTION.  XV 

his  master  whose  education  in  matters  of  sport  had  been 
in  his  hands  from  childhood,  who  had  served  three 
generations  of  the  family  and  knew  no  world  beyond  it, 
is  well  indicated  ;  and  in  this  respect,  at  any  rate,  one 
is  happy  to  think  that  times  have  not  altogether  changed 
in  Ireland,  and  that  faithful  and  affectionate  servants 
like  Antony  may  still  be  found,  honourably  serving 
a  master  who  loves  and  honours  them  for  their  service. 
His  last  words  were  beautifully  characteristic  of  personal 
devotion  and  reverence  for  the  name,  "  Master  Juhus, 
will  ye  listen  to  a  dying  man,  he  that  carried  ye  in  his 
arms,  and  loved  ye  better  than  all  the  world  besides. 
Marry,  Julius  avourneen — the  ould  name  that  since  the 
days  of  Shamus  a  Croaghagh  held  land  and  honour — 
surely  ye  won't  let  it  pass  !  You  will  mind  the  dog 
for  my  sake,  Master  Julius,  and  ye'U  let  trap  and  fishing- 
rod  hang  up  in  the  hall,  to  put  ye  in  mind  of  old  Antony," 
No  wonder  his  master  was  heavily  afflicted  at  the  loss 
of  his  old  friend  and  monitor  ;  no  wonder  he  felt  that, 
although  the  old  man  had  died  surrounded  by  those 
who  loved  him,  full  of  years,  and  ripe  for  his  rest,  '*  He 
could  have  spared  a  better  man." 

DUNRAVEN. 


ORIGINAL    PREFACE. 


Some  explanation  may  be  necessary  for  obtruding 
upon  the  public  the  private  details  of  a  sportsman's 
life,  and  particularly  when  the  scene  of  his  exploits 
is  laid  within  "  the  four  seas  of  Britain."  In  the  custo- 
mary course  of  field  adventure,  few  besides  the  indi- 
vidual concerned  are  much  interested  in  the  successes 
and  disappointments  he  experiences  ;  and  rural  sports 
are,  in  all  their  general  incidents,  so  essentially  alike 
as  to  render  their  minute  description  almost  invariably 
a  dull  and  unprofitable  record. 

Circumstances,  however,  may  occasionally  create  an 
'interest  which  in  ordinary  cases  would  be  wanting. 
From  local  connexions,  a  field  almost  untrodden  by  any 
but  himself  was  opened  to  the  writer  of  these  sketches. 
He  was  thrown  into  an  unfrequented  district,  with  a 
primitive  people  to  consort  with.  With  some  advan- 
tages to  profit  from  the  accident,  a  remote  and  semi- 
civilized  region  was  offered  to  his  observation  ;  and 
although  within  a  limited  distance  of  his  Majesty's 
mail-coach,  a  country  was  thus  disclosed,  as  little  known 
to  the  multitude  as  the  interior  of  Australasia  ;  and 
where,  excepting  some  adventurous  grouse-shooter, 
none  had  viewed  its  highlands  or  mingled  with  its 
inhabitants. 

That  the  scenic  and  personal  sketches  are  faithful, 
the  reader  is  assured  ;  some  were  written  on  the  spot, 
and  others  traced  from  vivid  recollection.  Those  with 
whom  the  author  shot  these  wild  moors,  or  fished  these 
waters,  will  best  estimate  the  fidelity  of  the  descriptions  ; 


XVllll  PREFACE. 

and  one  valued  friend,  though  now  beneath  another 
sun,  will  probably  recall  the  days  he  spent  by  "  fell 
and  flood,'*  and  bring  to  memory  those  light  and  joyous 
hours  when  he  caroused  in  a  mountain  bivouac  and 
rested  in  a  moorland  hut. 

With  regard  to  the  tales  and  legends  narrated  in  the 
succeeding  pages,  the  former  were  told  just  as  they  are 
introduced.  "  The  Blind  Seal  '*  is  known  to  be  sub- 
stantially true — I  have  heard  it  from  many,  and  never 
knew  its  veracity  impugned.  My  lamented  friend 
was  himself  the  principal  actor  in  *'  the  Night  Attack  "  ; 
and  he,  poor  fellow,  was  exactly  the  man  who,  in  an 
affray  or  a  carouse,  might  be  depended  on. 

Respecting  the  legendary  stories,  T  have  no  pledge 
to  offer  for  their  authenticity — Old  Antony  believed 
them  to  the  letter — I  have  given  them  nearly  in  his 
own  words,  and  I  may  say,  with  Sir  Walter  Scott, 

"  I  cannot  tell  how  the  truth  may  be, 
I  say  the  tale  as  'twas  told  to  me." 

'*  The  Legend  of  Knock-a-thample  "  remains  as  the 
Otter-killer  related  it ;  but  with  '*  Rose  Roche "  I 
confess  to  have  taken  liberties,  in  suppressing  a  portion 
of  her  flirtation  with  the  "  black-eyed  page,"  which 
although,  upon  the  lady's  part,  I  feel  convinced,  was 
perfectly  platonic,  yet  by  uncharitable  constructions 
might  be  tortured  into  something  like  indiscretion. 

If  I  have  undervalued  those  rural  recreations  in  which 
many  a  worthy  citizen  sometimes  dissipates,  I  hope  my 
contempt  for  his  avocations  will  be  ascribed  to  the  true 
cause,  namely,  that  local  advantages  have  spoiled  my 
taste  and  rendered  me  fastidious.  He  who  can  shoot 
grouse  upon  the  moor  will  spend  little  time  in  killing 
pigeons  from   the  trap  ;   the  angler  who  in  a  morning 


PREFACE.  XIX 

hooks  some  half-score  salmon  would  reckon  it  but 
sorry  amusement  to  dabble  in  a  pond.  To  a  Galway 
rider,  the  Epping  hunt  would  be  a  bore,  and  he  would 
probably  treat  it  with  the  same  contumely  that  one  of 
this  redoubted  body  did  hare-hunting,  by  riding  to  the 
hounds  in  morocco  slippers,  and  carrying  an  open 
umbrella  to  protect  him  from  the  sun. 

As  I  have  casually  named  "  an  honoured  name,"  I 
lament  that  it  was  not  his  fortune  to  have  visited  those 
interesting  scenes,  where  I  have  been  so  long  a  useless 
w^anderer.  The  wild  features  and  wilder  associations 
of  that  romantic  and  untouched  country  would  have 
offered  him  a  fresh  field  whereon  to  exercise  his  magic 
pencil — and  many  a  tale  and  legend  still  orally  handed 
down,  but  which,  in  a  few  years,  must  of  necessity  be 
forgotten,  would  have  gained  immortality  from  the 
touch  of  "  the  mighty  master."  But  alas  !  the  creations 
of  his  splendid  imagination  will  no  more  delight  an 
enchanted  world.  The  wand  is  broken,  the  spell  is 
over,  the  lamp  of  life  is  nearly  exhausted — and  even 
now  Scotland  may  be  mourning  for  the  mightiest  of 
her  gifted  sons. 

As  a  votive  offering,  this  Volume  is  inscribed  to 
that  matchless  genius,  by  an  humble  but  enthusiastic 
admirer  of  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

Sydenham, 

September  12,  1832. 


Wild  Sports  of  the  West 


CHAPTER   I. 

AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 


London^  July  ist,  1829. 

Notwithstanding  its  dust  and  desertion,  I  am  still 
lurking  in  the  metropolis.  The  heat  has  become  in- 
tolerable— yesterday  I  imagined  myself  in  Calcutta — 
for  never  but  in  the  land  of  curries  and  red  pepper  did 
I   experience   anything  so   oppressive. 

I  breakfasted  this  morning  at  the  Club-house.  My 
air  and  attitude,  as  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  them  in  a 
concave  mirror,  looked  exquisitely  disconsolate.  Never 
was  mortal  more  ennuye  than  I.  Town  has  become 
a  desert — the  world  has  abandoned  it  by  general  con- 
sent— the  streets  feel  as  if  they  had  been  recently  fanned 
by  a  sirocco  ;  and  of  divers  unhappy  beings  whom  I 
encountered  in  my  walk  from  Grafton  Street  to  St. 
James's,  none  seemed  at  ease  but  a  bilious  gentleman 
from  Bombay  and  the  French  fellow  who  exhibits  in 
the  oven.  The  thermometer,  in  a  shaded  corner  of 
the  room,  is  stationary  at  82  deg.  To  remain  longer 
here  would  be  suicidal  ;  but,  where  to  go — whither  to 
fly — alas  !    I  know  not. 


2  V/ILD    SPORTS    OF    THE    WEST; 

Would  that  you  were  near  me,  then  should  I  be 
certain  of  sympathy  and  counsel — ^for  at  this  moment 
there  is  not  a  more  persecuted  gentleman  in  the  King's 
dominions.  But  I  will  make  a  clean  breast — and  to 
render  my  confessions  explanatory,  I  must  favour  you 
with  some  particulars  of  my  private  history. 

As  autobiographers  enjoy  a  prescriptive  privilege  of 
exhibiting  their  ancestors,  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of 
introducing  my  papa.  In  his  twenty-second  year,  Mr. 
Hector  O'Brien  was  a  bold  Lieutenant  of  Grenadiers 
in  his  Majesty's  50th  Foot,  then  distinguished  by  the 
flattering  title  of  "  The  Dirty  Half  Hundred."*  My 
father  was  as  strapping  a  fellow  as  ever  wore  a  wing, 
kept  a  showy  horse,  and  was  decidedly  the  best  dancer 
in  the  regiment.  Being  quartered  in  the  vicinity  of 
Bath,  he  attended  the  assemblies,  and  "  in  double 
quick  "  managed  to  effect  a  conquest.  The  lady  had 
a  fortune,  and  my  father  required  one.  Unluckily, 
she  had  a  brother's  consent  to  gain  ;  and,  on  being 
consulted,  he  was  unmoved  by  importunity,  and  deaf 
to  "  every  plea  of  love."  The  case  was  hopeless.  Mr, 
Wamsley  disliked  Ireland,  detested  military  men,  and 
above  all  things  abominated  "  The  Dirty  Half  Hun- 
dred." 

To  account  for  the  gentleman's  antipathy  to  this 
celebrated  corps,  it  will  be  necessary  to  remark  that 
the  regiment  was  then  afflicted  with  a  mad  Major. 
His  (the  Major's)  delight  lay  in  drinking  port  wine 
and  slaying  pheasants.  Mr.  Wamsley,  on  the  contrary, 
preferred  water  and  preserved  game.  The  Major 
beat  up  preserves  without  remorse,  and  deforced  keepers, 
who,  though  good  men  and  true,  prudently  declined 

*  Prom  their  black  facings,  the  50th  received  this  sobriquet. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  3 

joining  issue  with  mad  majors  and  double-barrelled 
guns.  Now,  Mr.  Wamsley,  resisting  an  invasion  of  his 
rights,  applied  to  the  Justice  for  redress,  whereas  Major 
O'Farrell  considered  that  a  reference  to  the  pistol  would 
be  much  more  gentlemanly — a  deadly  feud  was  the 
consequence,  and  Mr.  Wamsley  was  closely  blockaded 
within  his  park  walls  by  the  military  delinquent. 
Fortunately  for  all  concerned,  the  regiment  got  the 
route  ;  Mr.  Wamsley  recovered  his  liberty,  and  his 
detestation  of  the  gallant  50th  only  ended  with  his 
life. 

But  his  sister  held  a  very  different  opinion  respecting 
the  merits  of  the  brave  *'  Half  Hundred."  She  was 
devoted  to  the  Lieutenant  of  Grenadiers,  and  the  route 
hurried  matters  to  a  crisis.  The  result  may  be  antici- 
pated. Despising  park  walls  and  surly  keepers,  Mr. 
O'Brien  overcame  every  difficulty,  and  with  the  assist- 
ance of  a  garden,  ladder,  the  mad  Major  and  his  double- 
barrelled  gun,  he  carried  off  the  lady,  and  at  Gretna 
they  became  "  one  flesh." 

Mr.  Wamsley  was  irritated  beyond  the  possibility 
of  being  appeased.  Ten  thousand  pounds,  which  his 
wife  possessed  without  the  control  of  her  brother, 
enabled  my  father  to  leave  the  army,  and  settle  on  his 
hereditary  estate  in  Roscommon  ;  and  there  he  hunted, 
shot,  fished,  and  farmed,  and  lived  just  as  Irish  gentlemen 
lived  some  thirty  years  ago. 

I  was  the  only  issue  of  the  marriage.  All  commu- 
nication had  ceased  between  my  parents  and  Mr. 
Wamsley,  and  eighteen  years  passed  away,  and  no 
appearance  of  abated  displeasure  had  ever  been  evinced 
by  this  implacable  relative.  I  left  a  public  school  for 
the  Dublin  University,  was  destined  for  the  Church, 


4  WILD    SPORTS    OF    THE    WEST. 

and  had  nearly  completed  my  college  course,  when  an 
unforeseen  event  changed  my  prospects  and  profes- 
sion. It  was  the  death  of  both  my  parents  within  the 
brief  space  of  a  month. 

My  father's  affairs  were  in  great  disorder — his  estate 
was  heavily  embarrassed,  and  if  his  debts  were  paid  it 
was  ascertained  that  I  should  be  left  nearly  destitute. 
The  intelligence  reached  Mr.  Wamsley,  and,  to  the 
astonishment  of  all  acquainted  with  his  unrelenting 
animosity  to  my  deceased  parents,  a  letter  was  received 
from  him,  inviting  me  to  visit  him  at  his  magnificent 
place,  Lalworth  Castle. 

The  invitation  was  of  course  accepted.  I  arrived, 
and  found  him  a  stern,  disagreeable  old  man.  My 
first  appearance  was  against  me — for  the  resemblance 
I  bore  to  my  father  was  most  striking,  and  it  seemed 
to  recall  my  uncle's  long-cherished  prejudices.  He 
abruptly  asked  me  on  the  succeeding  morning,  "  What 
course  of  life  I  had  selected  ?  "  I  replied,  "  That  the 
army  appeared  best  adapted  to  my  taste  and  broken 
fortunes."  His  only  observation  was,  "Be  it  so  "  ; 
and  here  this  laconic  conversation  ended. 

That  evening,  Mr.  Wamsley  wrote  to  his  neighbour, 
Lord  Ulverston.  The  peer  was  his  debtor  to  a  large 
amount,  and  generally  trafficked  with  him  for  his  borough 

of    bury.      My    uncle's     request    was      promptly 

attended  to.  Lord  Ulverston  stood  well  at  the  Horse 
Guards,  and  in  a  few  weeks,  to  my  unfeigned 
satisfaction  and  surprise,  I  was  gazetted  to  a 
Cornetcy  in  the  Blues. 

But  my  joy  at  this  event  was  but  of  short  duration. 
The  miserly  disposition  of  my  uncle  took  alarm  at  the 
large  outlay  attendant  on  entering  an  expensive  corps 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  5 

Each  hundred  was  doled  out  with  painful  reluctance, 
and  the  knowledge  that  a  certain  annual  allowance  would 
be  requisite  for  my  support  made  him  still  more 
wretched.  I  joined  the  regiment ;  my  subsidies — 
generally  drafts  for  a  paltry  fifty — were  ''  few  and 
far  between."  To  hold  a  certain  place  in  society,  with 
an  income  incompetent  to  its  expenses,  is  a  state  of 
inexpressible  misery.  Gradually  I  became  embarrassed, 
and  in  two  years  found  it  necessary  to  exchange  from 
the  Blues  to  a  Light  Cavalry  regiment,  then  stationed  in 
the  East  Indies.  My  uncle  made  no  objection  ;  he  was 
tired  of  what  he  termed  supplying  my  boundless 
extravagance,  bade  me  a  cold  farewell,  and  his  parting 
words,  as  I  stepped  into  the  carriage,  were  a  request 
that  I  would  ''  write  but  seldom,  as  postage  from  the 
East,  his  lawyer  told  him,  was  enormous." 

I  obeyed  him  to  the  letter  ;  I  only  wrote  once,  and 
that  was  conveying  an  entreaty  that  he  would  purchase  a 
majority  likely  to  become  vacant  ;  I  got  a  coarse  refusal, 
and  thus  our  correspondence  terminated.  For  four 
years  I  never  heard  from  him,  and  had  nearly  forgotten 
that  I  had  left  a  relation  behind  me. 

I  was  surprised,  however,  at  this  distant  period  with 
a  letter,  worded  in  his  stiff  and  peculiar  style.  It 
briefly  stated  that  his  health  was  indifferent,  and  that 
he  would  recommend  me  to  return  to  Europe  with  as 
little  delay  as  possible. 

This  recommendation  was  anything  but  gratifying. 
I  liked  India  well  enough — the  climate  agreed  with 
me — my  health  was  unimpaired — the  mess  was  good — 
the  regiment  gentlemanly — and,  better  still,  I  could 
live  most  comfortably  upon  my  pay.  I  felt,  however, 
that   my   uncle's    invitation   should   not   be   neglected  ; 


6  WILD    SPORTS    OF    THE    WEST. 

applied  for  leave  ;  succeeded,  and  made  immediate 
preparations  for  a  return  to  Europe.  My  brother 
officers  congratulated  me  on  my  good  fortune  in  so 
speedily  revisiting  my  native  country  ;  but  to  me  it 
was  a  subject  of  regret.  I  was  leaving  pleasant  quarters, 
cheerful  society,  and  comparative  independence,  to 
become  a  slave  to  the  caprice  and  ill-humour  of  a  morose 
and  splenetic  invalid. 

It  was  late  in  December  when  I  landed  at  Portsmouth. 
The  voyage  had  been  remarkably  quick,  and  without 
delay  I  started  for  my  uncle's  residence,  and  in  the 
gloom  of  a  wet  wintry  evening  re-entered  the  gates  oi 
Lalworth  Park.  I  looked  down  the  long  vista  of  splendid 
elms,  but  in  the  twilight  the  house  was  not  visible  ;  not 
a  candle  glanced  from  a  window,  and  no  indication  of 
its  being  inhabited  appeared  about  this  melancholy 
mansion.  The  postboy  stopped — I  alighted,  ran  up 
the  steps  and  rang  gently — no  one  answered — I  rang 
again — louder  yet — and  a  step  came  hastily  over  the 
oaken  floor.  The  old  porter  at  last  approached, 
cautiously  affixed  the  chain,  opened  a  few  inches  of  the 
door,  and  raised  his  candle  suspiciously  to  examine  the 
late  visitor.  Instantly  recollecting  me,  he  uttered  a 
suppressive  exclamation  of  astonishment,  removed  the 
fastenings,  and  muttered,  "  Thank  God,  it  is  himself !  " 
and,  as  he  admitted  me,  whispered  that  my  uncle  was 
not  expected  to  survive  till  midnight. 

In  silence  I  was  conducted  to  a  back  drawing-room, 
where,  on  a  large,  old-fashioned  sofa,  the  dying  man  was 
laid.  The  porter  advanced  before,  and  in  a  low  voice 
notified  my  arrival.  The  news  appeared  to  gratify 
the  mvalid  ;  he  turned  his  dim  eyes  to  the  spot  where 
I  stood  waiting  for  permission  to  advance.     "  Are  you 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  7 

there,  Frank  !  "  he  said  in  a  feeble  voice — "  Ha,  ha, 
ha  !  it  was  touch  and  go  with  you  !  "  and  he  uttered  a 
weak  and  sarcastic  laugh.  "  Call  Doctor  Dodwell 
and  the  lawyer — desire  them  to  bring  the  other  will — 
and  tell  Moore  and  Hubert  to  attend  to  witness  it.' 
While  he  gave  these  orders  I  gazed  on  the  wasted  features 
of  the  dying  miser,  and  there  was  a  strange  expression  of 
stern  satisfaction  visible  on  his  countenance,  as  his 
cold  glance  rested  fixedly  on  me.  Immediately  the 
doctor,  solicitor,  and  witnesses  entered  the  room — 
**  Raise  me  up,"  he  said  to  the  ancient  domestic,  his 
personal  attendant.  It  was  done,  and  he  motioned 
to  the  solicitor  to  unfold  the  parchment.  Carefully  he 
passed  his  eye  over  the  surface  to  assure  himself  that  the 
document  was  the  one  he  required,  and  having  ascertained 
the  fact,  he  pointed  to  a  pen.  With  difficulty  he  placed 
it  in  his  trembling  fingers,  and,  with  a  painful  exertion, 
affixed  his  signature  to  the  deed — then  looking  at  the 
witnesses  as  they  annexed  their  names — "  This  is  my 
last  will  and  testament,"  he  said,  with  a  feeble  emphasis, 
*'  and  thus  do  I  revoke  all  others  !  " — then  turning  to 
me,  while  a  ghastly  smile  overspread  his  face,  "  Half 
an  hour  later  would  have  served  hospitals  and  alms- 
houses, Francis  "  he  leaned  himself  back  and  expired 
without  a  struggle. 

For  a  few  moments  we  were  not  aware  that  he  was 
dead  ;  the  strength  with  which  his  last  remark  was 
uttered  led  us  at  first  to  beheve  that  he  had  reclined 
in  consequence  of  the  exertion.  In  a  few  minutes  the 
physician  took  his  hand  and  sought  for  a  pulse,  but  in 
vain  ;  he  raised  the  eyelid  and  applied  a  candle  to  the 
fixed  and  deadly  stare,  and  then  announced  that  the 
patient  had  departed. 


8  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

A  scene,  a  disgusting  scene,  ensued  ;  the  attorney, 
when  certified  of  his  cHent's  death,  seized  my  hand  and 
coarsely  congratulated  me  on  my  good  fortune.  The 
doctor  abandoned  the  corpse  to  join  the  solicitor  in  his 
compliments — and  between  them  the  truth  transpired. 
I  had,  indeed,  been  luckily  expeditious  in  my  journey, 
and  the  old  man's  phrase  of  touch  and  go  was  fully 
explained.  The  preceding  day  he  had  signed  a  testa- 
ment conveying  his  entire  property  to  a  variety  of 
charitable  institutions  ;  and  the  will  which  had  been 
originally  made  in  my  favour,  and  been  kept  over  by 
this  singular  relative,  would  have  remained  imperfect, 
had  I  not  so  providentially  arrived  the  evening  of  his 
death. 

We  left  the  room  while  the  body  was  being  laid  out 
preparatory  to  interment.  What  a  turn  one  hour  had 
given  to  my  fortunes  !  I  entered  Lalworth  Park  at  four 
o'clock,  a  poor,  miserable  dependant ;  at  five,  I  was 
master  of  all  around  me,  possessed  of  twelve  thousand 
pounds  a  year,  owner  of  a  borough,  with  fifty  thousand 
in  the  funds  and  twenty  at  my  banker's.  Such  a  mingled 
yarn  is  the  web  of  human  life. 

The  obsequies  of  my  uncle  were  duly  performed, 
and  for  many  days  I  was  engaged  in  examining  papers, 
and  taking  possession  of  the  plate  and  valuables  of 
Lalworth  Park.  The  house  was  sadly  out  of  repair, 
and  the  grounds  and  gardens  utterly  neglected.  The 
old  man  had  limited  the  fuel  for  the  mansion  to  such 
fallen  wood  as  could  be  collected  throughout  the  domain  ; 
and  the  few  domestics  he  employed  were  scarcely 
sufficient  to  ventilate,  without  attempting  to  keep  in 
order,  the  numerous  and  once  splendid  apartments. 
For  some  time  I  was  busily  occupied  ;    I  hired  addi- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  9 

tional  servants,  engaged  an  architect,  fiated  my  agent's 
accounts,  and  started  then  for  London  so  soon  as  a  decent 
respect  towards  the  deceased  would  permit  my  appearing 
in  the  metropoHs.  Of  the  rest,  my  dear  Baronet,  you 
know  sufficient  particulars  ;  a  presentable  man,  olim 
in  the  Blues,  and  recently  succeeding  to  a  large  and 
unencumbered  property,  would  soon  "  find  room  in 
any  place."  I  was  speedily  admitted  to  those  chosen 
circles  which  are  impassable  to  those  who  want  birth, 

impudence,  or  money.     I  ran  the  full  round  of  dissi 

but,  on  this  head,  you,  my  constant  companion,  require 
but  little  information. 

In  human  life,  George,  every  thing  has  its  limits. 
I  am  probably  too  rich  to  be  permanently  happy.  I 
tired  of  Brookes 's  and  Willis's  and  Crockford's  ;  I  had 
little  taste  for  the  play,  and  betted  moderately,  and  with 
even  success  :  if  I  lost  I  was  not  depressed  ;  if  I  won 
I  was  not  exhilarated.  The  season  was  drawing  to  its 
close,  and  I  began  to  discover  that  I  was  not  fated  to 
escape  from  sublunary  annoyances.  I  was  bored  by 
the  dull  dinners  of  stupid  placemen,  who  calculated 
on  my  borough  ;  I  was  persecuted  by  ancient  gentle- 
women who  wished  to  rid  themselves  of  daughters  that 
years  ago  were  passees ;  a  young  and  titled  widow 
almost  wooed  me  to  desperation  ;    and  the  Dowager  of 

shocked  me  by  an  assurance  that  Lord  Leatherby 

expected,  from  my  marked  attention  at  the  Horticultural 
fete,  that  I  would  forthwith  propose  for  that  sandy- 
haired  fright,  his  daughter.  God  help  me  !  little  did 
I  suppose  that  an  act  of  common  humanity,  in  sheltering 
her  red  ringlets  with  a  broken  umbrella,  would  have  been 
thus  tortured  by  that  leaden-headed  Lord,  her  sire  ! 

I  forgot  in  its  proper   place   to   notify  an  important 


10  WILD   SPORTS    OF    THE    WEST. 

occurrence ;  it  was  the  death  of  Mr.  James  Jones. 
This  personage  was  owner  of  a  property  in  Surinam, 
and    one    of   the    representatives    for   the    borough     of 

bury.     A  year  before  his  death  my  late  uncle  had 

pocketed    three    thousand    pounds,    and    returned     as 
inoffensive  a  gentleman  as  ever  snored  upon  the  benches 
of   St.    Stephen's.     I   took   his   place,   next   the   oaths, 
and  had  sufficient  grace  to  sit  quiet  and  listen  to  other 
declaimers,  who  possessed  more  talent  or  more  impudence 
than  myself.     For  some  time  I  was  rather  undecided  in 
my    politics  ;     but    the    Ministerial    were    the    quieter 
benches — there    I    established   myself,   and   for   half  a 
session   none   slept   through   a    debate   with   a   quieter 
conscience — but,  curse  upon  blighted  beauty,  I  was  not 
permitted  to  remain  in  happy  and  unambitious  celibacy. 
From  my  first   appearance   I   had   been   exposed   to 
distant   attacks,   but   as   the   weather  warmed   and   the 
town    thinned,    my    persecutors    became    more    daring 
in    their    approaches.      Did    I    venture    to    a    Refugee 
concert,  there   I   was  waylaid   by  the  widow.     Did   I 
endeavour  to  steal  a  ride  in  Rotten  Row,  I  was  directly 
hunted  off  by  the  dame  rouge  and  that  infernal  Peer, 
her  father  ;    and  all  that  was  penniless  or  passe  marked 
me  as  an  object  of  unrelenting  importunity.     Eventu- 
ally,  I  was  driven  from  every  place  approachable  by 
woman,  and,  having  no  other  refuge,  turned  to  the  turf, 
and   engaged  myself  deeply  in  the  Derby. 

That  event  is  over,  and  I  shall  write  the  man  "  mine 
enemy  "  who  ever  recalls  it  to  my  recollection — but 
as  this  is  a  confession  to  thee,  George,  I  must  make  a 
clean  breast.  I  was  as  well  acquainted  with  the  mysteries 
of  a  betting-book  as  I  was  with  the  financial  department 
of  Timbuctoo  ;    when  luckily  "  a  d d  good-natured 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  1 1 

friend  "  came  to  my  aid,  and,  with  his  experience,  why 
should  I  not  get  on  cleverly  ?  A  horse  was  going  for 
nothing,  my  friend  was  on  the  alert,  made  the  discovery, 
and  I  bought  him  for  five  hundred.  He  was  a  dead 
bargain,  quite  a  dark  one,  and,  in  proof  of  the  same,  the 
odds  against  him  were  thirty-five  to  one  ;  but,  as  I  was 
informed,  there  lay  the  beauty  of  the  thing. 

As  the  races  drew  near,  I  discovered  that  my  book  was 
what  the  legs  call  a  queer  concern.  I  had  picked  up  the 
halt  and  blind  as  first  favourites  and  betted  accordingly. 
My  dark  one  proved  a  roarer^  and  my  faithful  friend 
recommended  me  to  hedge  immediately,  and  I  did  so, 
as  the  result  wdll  tell. 

Off  went  the  horses  ;  Phenomenon,  my  courser,  in 
the  chance  medley  got  a  splendid  start,  but  from  his 
pace  the  spectators  alleged  that  he  was  hamstrung. 
In  three  hundred  yards  he  was  passed  by  the  slowest 
of  the  had  ones,  and  before  the  leading  horses  reached 
the  distance,  everything  I  was  interested  in  was  beaten 
fairly  off.  All  I  had  left  for  consolation  under  this 
accumulation  of  disappointment  was  the  smart  hedge 
that  I   had  so  prudently  effected  before  starting. 

The  settling-day  came  ;  I  was  at  Tattersall's  and  so 
were  my  winners  to  a  man  ;  I  disbursed  five  thousand 
to  divers  legs  with  and  without  titles,  and  furthermore 
disposed  of  the  celebrated  horse  Phenomenon  for  fifty 
pounds.  But  where  was  the  worthy  gentleman  with 
whom  I  had  hedged  half  my  losses  ?  Till  four  o'clock 
I  waited  in  painful  expectation,  and  at  that  hour,  he  being 
still  invisible,  I  ventured  to  hazard  an  enquiry,  and  was 
favoured  with  the  comfortable  tidings  that  my  absent 
friend  was  a  broken  wine  merchant,  and  that  he  had 
levanted  the  evening  of  the  race. 


12  WILD    SPORTS    OP    THE    WEST 

This  wind-up  of  the  season,  united  to  sultry  weather 
and  a  tender  persecution,  determined  me  to  fly  ''  east, 
west,  or  north,  I  care  not  whither."  This,  however, 
was  more  easily  decided  on  than  efltected,  for  to  retreat 
is  the  difficulty,  as  I  find  myself  hemmed  in  by  my 
enemies  on  every  side.  The  widow  cuts  me  off  from 
Cheltenham  ;   the  Honourable  Juliana  Thistleton  would 

haunt  me  in  Hastings  ;    the  Dowager  of and  her 

protegee  abide  in  the  pleasant  town  of  Brighton  ;  and  my 
Lord  Leatherby  has  taken  out  a  sort  of  roving  commis- 
sion, to  infest  every  retirement  of  fashionable  repute  ; 
and  from  his  cunning  enquiries  as  to  the  particular  point, 
seaside  or  suburban,  to  which  I  purpose  to  remove, 
I  perceive  I  am  as  deliberately  doomed  to  matrimony 
by  this  relentless  nobleman  as  ever  a  country  bonnet- 
maker  was  devoted  to  destruction  by  an  immoral  captain 
of  horse. 

And  shall  I  fall  without  a  struggle  to  avert  my  fate  } 
forbid  it,  honour  !  Yes,  my  determination  is  fixed — 
I  will  counteract  this  conspiracy  against  my  freedom, 
and  call  my  Connaught  cousin  "  to  the  rescue."  He 
is  a  determined  duellist,  and  has  been  regularly  jilted 
— consequently  he  abominates  the  sex  (I  hope)  and  will 
protect  me  from  the  widow ;  while  his  truculent 
propensities  for  the  pistol  will  keep  the  Peer  at  a  distance. 


CONN  AUGHT,  1 3 


CHAPTER  II. 

I  HAVE  said  that  in  this  my  hour  of  need  I  would  seek 
succour  from  my  Irish  kinsman.  I  wrote  to  him 
accordingly,  implored  him  to  abandon  his  mountain 
den,  and  join  me  at  Lai  worth  Park.  To  my  invitation 
I  received  a  decisive  and,  I  would  almost  say,  insulting 
refusal.  "  He  hated  puppies,  avoided  flirts,  was  neither 
a  fool  or  a  fortune,  and  therefore  had  no  business  with 
such  society  as  I  should  expose  him  to."  The  man 
appears  to  be  a  misanthrope  ;  I  gave  him  in  return  a 
tart  rejoinder,  and  he  seems  disinclined  to  remain  my 
debtor.     Hear  what  he  says  : 

"  Francis,  I  pity  thee  !  Like  the  Moor,  your  *  occupa- 
tion's gone,'  and  your  letter  seals  your  condemnation. 

"  You  talk  of  exercise  :  pshaw  !  what  is  it  ?  You 
knock  some  party-coloured  balls  over  the  smooth  surface 
of  a  green  table  ;  you  hazard  suflFocation  for  an  hour  in 
Rotten  Row,  and  should  you  survive  the  dust,  endure 
eternal  dread  of  empalement  by  a  carriage-pole  ;  you 
shoot  a  score  of  rascally  pigeons  within  the  enclosures 
of  Batters ea,  or  make  a  grand  excursion  to  slaughter 
pheasants  in  a  preserve  ;  last  and  proudest  feat  comes 
the  hattu,  when,  with  noble  and  honourable  confederates, 
you  exterminate  a  multitude  of  semi-civilized  fowls, 
manfully  overcoming  the  fatigue  of  traversing  an 
ornamented  park,  and  crossing  a  few  acres  of  turnips. 
And  is  this  ignoble  course  befitting  one  of '  lith  and  limb  ' 
like    thine  ?     Fom,   the    best  of    your  day   in    Trinity 


14 


WILD    SPORTS    OF    THE    WEST. 


— you,  whose  prowess  is  still  recorded  in  the  annals 
of  the  watchhouse,  and  whose  hurling  is  yet  chronicled 
in  the  Park  ;  you,  whom  no  six-feet  wall  could  turn, 
whom  no  mountain-herd  could  tire  in  the  dog-days — 
you,  who  could  swim  with  Byron,  and  walk  with  Barclay 
— what  are  you  become  ?  an  elegant  and  fashionable 
idler — lolling  life  away,  the  morning  in  a  club-house 
window,  the  evening  in  the  Park,  and  the  night  gallopading 
some  scion  of  nobility,  who  has  discovered  that  you 
possess  twelve  thousand  pounds  a  year,  and  that  her 
own  funds  are  insufficient  to  satisfy  the  corset-maker 
in  Regent  Street. 

"  Would  that  I  could  reform  your  taste  and  habits  ! 
Could  I  but  induce  you  to  pass  one  autumn  here,  your 
conversion  would  be  a  certainty.  Come  to  me,  Frank  ; 
ay,  come  to  the  wilds  of  Connaught ;  avoid  an  atmos- 
phere surcharged  with  villainous  impurities,  and  brace 
your  relaxed  nerves  in  the  waves  of  the  Atlantic  ;  seek 
life  and  energy  in  the  mountain-breeze  ;  abandon  the 
gymnasium  to  scriveners  and  shopmen,  and  leave 
Crockford's  to  ruined  dupes  and  titled  swindlers. 

"  You  have  hitherto  been  a  silent  member  of  the 
Honourable  Commons,  and  St.  Stephen's  has  never 
heard  from  you  '  the  popular  harangue,  the  tart  reply.* 
Hast  thou  any  aspirations  after  fame  ?  any  *  longing 
after  immortality  ?  '  Listen  ;  the  means  are  simple. 
Indict  the  Red-house  as  a  nuisance,  and  propose  a  bill, 
making  the  being  aiding  or  accessory  to  a  battu,  death 
wilhout  benefit  of  clergy.  Thy  name  will  live  when 
Joe  Hume,  that  ready-reckoner,  shall  be  forgotten  ; 
and  Dick  Martin's  senatorial  renown  will  fade  before 
the  perennial  glory  of  the  present  member  for bury  !  " 

Need  I  say  how  opportunely  came  this  invitation  ? 


CONN  AUGHT.  1 5 

**  I  embraced  his  offer  "  ;  and  here  I  am  fairly  over  the 
border,  and  safely  deposited  in  the  kingdom  of  Con- 
naught,  without  injury  or  interruption  worth  recording. 

On  the  subject  of  my  travels  I  intend  to  be  laconic, 
inasmuch  as,  with  a  temporary  intervention  of  steam, 
I  have  resided  in  the  royal  mail  since  I  left  the  lamps 
of  London.  I  believe  I  am  not  exactly  cut  out  for  a 
traveller  ;  I  am  incurious  as  to  names  of  guards  and 
coachmen — never  inquire  after  their  wives,  or  take  the 
population  of  their  families  ;  I  generally  sleep  from  the 
start  to  the  close  of  the  stage.  I  did  observe  that  the 
colour  of  corn  was  nearly  alike  in  both  countries  ;  and 
remarked,  further,  that  English  drivers  seemed  partial 
to  ale  and  overalls,  and  Irish  ones  preferred  frieze  coats 
and  naked  whiskey. 

And  now  you  shall  have  the  particulars  of  my  escape  ; 
and,  since  the  times  of  the  Anabasis,  or  the  more  recent 
exploits  of  Lavalette  and  Ikey  Solomons,  never  was 
retreat  effected  in  more  masterly  style.  Candour 
obliges  me  to  admit  that  mine  was  unaccompanied  by 
sound  of  trumpet,  or  other  "  pomp  and  circumstance 
of  war  "  ;  and  rather  resembled  the  hasty  retirement 
of  a  detected  thief  from  a  tabernacle  than  a  bold  opera- 
tion in  noonday,  and  in  the  face  of  the  enemy.  But 
let  that  pass.  I  embarked  a  miscellaneous  cargo  of 
guns,  dogs,  and  fishing-tackle,  under  the  surveillance 
of  a  trusty  servant,  on  board  a  Dublin  steamer,  and  the 
following  evening  started  quietly  for  "  the  Head "  ; 
leaving  directions  with  mine  host  in  Grafton  Street  to 
acquaint  Lord  Leatherby,  and  all  suspicious -looking 
inquirers,  that  I  had  departed  for  Constantinople,  and 
that  any  commands  for  me  must  be  forwarded,  under 
cover,  to  the  Sublime  Porte. 


1 5  WILD    SPORTS    OF    THE   WEST. 

I  have  no  talent  for  statistics,  but  if  my  memory 
serve,  the  interesting  portion  of  the  British  Empire 
from  which  I  write  is  thus  laid  down  by  a  modern 
tourist : — "  It  lieth,"  says  this  intelligent  traveller, 
"  under  a  dark  gray  cloud,  which  is  evermore  discharging 
itself  on  the  earth,  but,  like  the  widow's  curse,  is  never 
exhausted.  It  is  bounded  on  the  south  and  east  by 
Christendom  and  part  of  Tipperary,  on  the  north  by 
Donegal,  and  on  the  west  by  the  salt  say.  It  abounds 
in  bogs,  lakes,  and  other  natural  curiosities  ;  its  soil 
consists  of  equal  quantities  of  earth  and  stone  ;  and  its 
surface  is  so  admirably  disencumbered  of  trees,  shrubs, 
hedges,  and  ditches,  that  an  inteUigent  backwoodsman 
from  Louisiana  was  heard  to  declare  with  rapture  that 
it  was  the  most  perfectly-cultivated  territory  in  Europe. 

"  Further,"  saith  the  tourist,  "  its  gentry  are  a  polished 
and  religious  race,  remarkable  for  their  punctuality 
in  pecuniary  transactions,  and  their  freedom  from  a 
litigious  or  quarrelsome  disposition.  The  prevailing 
mode  of  belief  among  the  upper  classes  is  anythingarianism 
—that  of  the  people,  pure  Popery." 

This  premonitory  sketch  will  save  you  and  me,  George, 
an  infinity  of  trouble.  You  have  here  the  country 
graphically  placed  before  you,  as  well  as  the  distin- 
guishing traits  of  character,  for  which  the  pleasant  and 
virtuous  community  who  abide  in  this  interesting 
department  of  the  Emerald  Isle  are  so  eminently  dis- 
tinguished. 

The  town  of  Ballinasloe  is  seated  on  a  river,  the  name 
of  which  I  neglected  to  inquire.  It  is  much  frequented 
by  saints  and  cattle  dealers,  carries  on  a  smart  trade 
in  sheep  and  proselytes,  and  Bibles  and  bullocks  are 
"  thick  as  leaves  in  Vallombrosa."     The  cabins,  more- 


CONN  AUGHT.  1 7 

over,  are  whitewashed  ;  pigs  and  popery  are  prohibited  ; 
and  travellers  wayfaring  on  the  seventh  day  denounced, 
and,  under  perilous  amercements,  enjoined  to  take 
their  ease  in  their  respective  inns. 

While  the  horses  were  being  brought  out,  I  strolled 
into  the  street,  and,  in  a  show-room  of  the  Farming 
Society,  discovered  a  collection  of  biblicals  in  full 
activity.  From  a  short  gentleman  with  soiled  linen 
and  an  impeded  delivery,  I  learned  the  gratifying  fact 
that  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  was  progressive  in  Cali- 
fornia ;  and,  further,  that  a  second-cousin  of  the  King 
of  Siam  had  been  baptized  by  a  Moravian  missionary. 
This  latter  annunciation  elicited  a  thunder  of  applause  ; 
and  a  young  lady  with  a  lisp  pinched  my  elbow  play- 
fully, and  requested  me  to  propose  that  a  piece  of  plate 
be  transmitted  to  the  convertee.  Now,  pinching  one's 
elbow  on  a  five  minutes'  acquaintance  is  alarming ; 
I  accordingly  levanted,  leaving  Lispy  to  propose  the  plate 
in  person.  I  observed,  in  my  retreat,  a  mob  assembled 
round  the  chapel,  and,  pushing  through  a  crowd  of 
ragged  urchins,  established  myself  in  the  doorway. 
Within  there  was  a  meeting  of  Radical  Reformers,  and 
a  tall  man  was  pouring  forth  a  philippic  from  the  altar, 
in  which  he  made  an  awful  example  of  the  king's 
English,  and,  in  his  syllabic  arrangements,  differed 
totally  from  modern  orthoepists.  The  gist  of  his 
oration  went  to  prove  that  Catholic  Emancipation  was 
a  humbug — concession  a  farce — and  luck  or  grace  would 
never  visit  this  unhappy  island  until  Mr.  Cornelius 
Cassidy,  of  Killcooney  House,  was  sent  to  represent 
us  in  the  Imperial  Parliament, 


1 8  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 


CHAPTER  III. 


As  my  journey  hither  has  been  singularly  propitious, 
I  shall  only  trouble  the  reader  with  the  leading  incidents. 

My  carriage  broke  down  close  to  the  inn  of  Glantane, 
a  solitary  house,  as  the  song  goes,  '*  delightfully  placed 
in  a  bog."  As  some  delay  must  necessarily  occur 
before  the  repairs  of  the  vehicle  could  be  effected,  after 
the  example  of  that  accomplished  cavalier,  Major 
Dalgetty,  I  determined  to  seize  on  this  opportunity  to 
provision  the  garrison.  To  this  prudent  proceeding 
on  my  part  I  found  there  was  an  insurmountable 
obstacle  ;  the  landlady  assured  me  that  the  "  materiel " 
was  in  the  house-^there  was  bacon  in  the  chimney, 
and  chickens  in  the  yard,  but  there  was  no  turf  within, 
till  the  boys — the  devil  bother  them  for  staying  ! — came 
home  from  the  blacksmith's  funeral.  Now,  that 
the  hotel  of  Glantane  should  be  deficient  in  this  point 
was  marvellous.  The  surface  of  the  circumjacent  country, 
in  its  proportion  of  tillage  ground  to  turbary,  bears  an 
acr cable  ratio  of  one  to  five  hundred  ;  and  yet,  though 
in  the  bosom  of  a  bog,  there  could  not  be  a  sufficiency 
of  fire  obtained  to  boil  a  potato-pot !  But  human 
ingenuity  is  surprising  ;  after  a  delay  of  three  mortal 
hours  I  re-ascended  my  chaise,  and,  without  further 
accident,  was  deposited  in  the  town  of  Tuam. 

On  the  merits  of  the  Mitre  Inn  I  shall  be  silent ;  it 
produced  in  good  time  a  respectable  quarter  of  cold 
lamb,  and  a  dish  of  exquisite  potatoes.  By  the  way, 
we  cannot  cook  this  latter  esculent  in  England.  Had 
my  fare  been  worse,  I  would  have  submitted  without 


JOURNEY    CONTINUED.  1 9 

a  murmur  ;  for  the  waiter  assured  my  servant  that  I 
had  got  the  best  bedroom  in  the  house.  Now,  in  the 
course  of  my  narrative  I  omitted  to  mention  that  on  the 
preceding  night  I  had  scarcely  closed  an  eye.  On 
retiring  to  my  dormitory,  I  remarked  that  the  grate 
was  heaped  with  black  turfs,  apparently  in  the  same 
state  in  w^hich  they  had  been  removed  from  their  parent 
moor  ;  but,  anxious  to  court  the  drowsy  god,  I  extin- 
guished the  candle,  sprang  into  bed,  and  too  late 
discovered  that  I  was  overloaded  with  a  mass  of  pon- 
derous blanketing,  while  a  faint  spark  twinkled  in  the 
bottom  of  the  grate,  and,  like  the  cry  of  wisdom  in  the 
streets,  was  disregarded.  I  fell  into  a  temporary  dose, 
and  awoke  an  hour  afterwards  in  a  burning  fever  ;  for 
the  grate,  in  place  of  cold  turfs,  exhibited  a  roaring  fire. 
In  vain  I  opened  door  and  window  ;  in  vain  I  tumbled 
blanket  after  blanket  on  the  floor  ;  hours  elapsed  before 
the  fever- warmth  of  the  apartment  could  be  abated. 
At  last,  exhausted  by  heat  and  exertion,  I  threw  myself 
upon  the  outside  of  the  bed-coverings,  and  made  myself 
up  for  repose.  Just  then  a  brace  of  obstinate  curs 
determined  to  "  bay  the  moon  "  :  one  established  him- 
self beneath  my  window,  and  the  other  took  up  a  position 
at  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  and  for  three  long  hours 
they  barked  incessantly,  relieving  themselves  occasion- 
ally by  indulging  in  a  mournful  and  nerve-torturing  howl. 
Human  forbearance  could  not  support  the  martyrdom 
I  suffered  :  I  was  driven  to  desperation,  and,  collecting 
every  missile  article  in  the  chamber,  with  repeated 
discharges,  routed  my  persecutors,  and  once  more 
endeavoured  to  procure  some  rest. 

I  sank  into  a  delicious  slumber  ;  but  suddenly  the  door 
was  flung  open,  and  in  rushed  the  waiter  with  porten- 


20  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

tous  speed.  "  The  house  must  be  on  fire  !  "  I  ejacu- 
lated, as  I  somerseted  into  the  centre  of  the  floor.  My  fears 
were  fortunately  groundless  :  Denis  merely  awoke 
me  to  inquire  if  I  would  drive  three  miles  out  of  town 
to  see  two  scoundrels  fight,  who  had  quarrelled  the 
preceding  night  about  a  game  of  cribbage.  Judge  then, 
dear  George,  after  all  these  visitations,  whether  the 
annunciation  of  a  quiet  bed  at  Tuam  was  not  to  me 
"  a  sound  ecstatic  !  " 

I  swallowed  a  pint  of  rascally  sherry  without  a  murmur, 
fortified  it  with  a  dose  of  diluted  alcohol,  yawned  my  way 
to  my  room,  found  clean  linen — no  fire,  and,  in  five 
minutes,  was  buried  in  sleep  "  fast  as  a  watchman." 

Presently  arose  a  hum  of  many  voices  ;  dreams  and 
phantasies  disturbed  my  uneasy  slumbers  ;  a  noise  like 
distant  music  at  times  was  faintly  audible  ; — at  last  a 
crash  of  instruments  awoke  me,  and  the  first  quadrille 
was  in  full  execution  within  four  feet  of  my  distracted 
head  ! 

Heaven  granted  me  patience,  although  I  was  on  the 
very  brink  of  a  country  ball-room,  and  separated  from 
"  the  gay  throng  "  only  by  the  intervention  of  a  slip 
of  deal  board,  while  through  the  chinks  you  might  have 
passed  the  poker,  or  interchanged  a  parasol. 

I  raised  myself  up  on  my  elbow,  and  what  a  group  was 
there  !  A  short  man,  in  a  claret-coloured  coat,  was  paired^ 
with  a  stout  gentlewoman  in  bright  scarlet  :  she  must 
have  been  descended  from  ''  the  giant  "  ;  I  would  as 
soon  grapple  with  her  in  a  waltz  as  commit  myself 
to  the  embraces  of  a  boa-constrictor.  Vis-d-vis  was  a 
police-oflricer,  in  state  uniform,  with  a  pale  beauty  in 
cerulean  blue  ;  and  a  personage  of  immense  calf, 
in    black    tights^    confronted    a    skeleton    in    nankeen 


JOURNEY  CONTINUED.  21 

unmentionables.  The  ladies  were  gloriously  adorned  with 
silver  ribbon,  gilt  wreaths,  and  every  flower  that  blows, 
from  a  pink  to  a  peony  ;  the  lords  of  the  creation  sported 
stiff"ened  cravats  and  a  plurality  of  waistcoats  ;  and  the 
ball-room  emitted  "  an  ancient  and  fish-like  smell " 
— a  miasm  of  musk,  assisted  by  every  abomination  in 
perfumery. 

I  was  in  an  intermediate  state  between  frenzy  and  fever, 
and  turned  over  in  my  mind  the  expediency  of  setting 
fire  to  the  bed-curtains,  and  sending  myself,  the  quad- 
rille, and  the  whole  company  to  the  skies,  by  igniting 
ten  pounds  of  Harvey's  treble  strong,  which  was  stowed 
away  somewhere  in  my  luggage.  Did  tired  nature 
quiesce  for  a  moment,  I  was  fearfully  roused  with  a 
tornado  of  torturous  sounds.  "  Places,  gentlemen  !  " 
— "  Ladies'  chain  !  " — **  Now,  don't  dance,  Patsey  ; 
you  know  you're  drunk  !  " — *'  Arrah  !  Charley,  are  you 
stupid  ?  "— "  Dos'd-dos,  Miss  Rourke  !  "— "  Up  with 
the  Lancers  !  " — "  Aisy,  Mr.  Bodkin  !  remember  there 
are  ladies  here  !  " — "  Waiter  1  there's  porter  wanted 
at  the  card-table  !  "  Somnus  !  deity  of  my  adoration  ! 
never  expose  me  to  such  misery  as  I  endured  in  the 
archiepiscopal  town  of  Tuam  ! 

Morning  came,  and  the  company  retired  to  supper 
below  stairs.  Anticipating  the  consequences,  I  fortified 
my  chamber-door  with  all  the  moveables  I  could  collect. 
It  was  a  prudent  precaution  ;  for,  blessed  be  God  ! 
a  row  ensued,  that  finished  both  delph  and  dancing. 
I  suflFered  nothing  in  person,  but  my  less-fortunate  valet 
got  a  black  eye  from  a  Connemara  gentleman,  who, 
unluckily  for  poor  Travers,  mistook  him  for  the  master 
of  the  ceremonies,  with  whom  he  of  Connemara  was 
at  feud. 


22  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


It  was  noon  when  I  arose,  and  the  inmates  of  the  Mitre 
were  still  in  exquisite  confusion.  Breakfast,  after  much 
delay,  was  provided  by  the  agency  of  the  housemaid. 
She  apologised  for  the  non-attendance  of  the  waiter, 
at  present  a  patient  in  the  Infirmary  ;  he  having,  in  the 
course  of  the  entertainment,  been  ejected  from  the 
window  by  a  pleasant  gentleman  of  Loughrea. 

Anxious  to  be  off  as  soon  as  possible,  I  ordered  the 
horses  to  ;  but  an  unforeseen  difficulty  occurred  in 
removing  my  luggage  to  the  carriage,  as  the  door 
was  blocked  up  four  deep  by  a  gang  of  beggars. 
With  relation  to  the  sizes  of  their  respective  places, 
the  lazaroni  of  Naples  are  far  out-numbered  by  the 
mendicants  of  Tuam.  A  trace  broke  at  starting,  and 
thus  enabled  me  to  form  a  pretty  correct  idea  of  this 
multitude.  I  reckoned  to  fifty-seven,  and  then  became 
confused.  Although  beset  on  every  side,  I  was  proof 
against  importunity,  and  refused  parting  with  a  sixpence. 
Cursing  was  next  tried  ;  and  to  the  curious  in  that 
accomplishment,  I  would  suggest  a  week's  residence 
at  the  Mitre.  One  boy,  a  cripple  in  a  dish,  excelled 
the  united  talent  of  the  remainder.  English  and  Irish 
epithets  were  with  him  ''  common  as  household  words  "  '; 
he  used  both  languages  with  surpassing  fluency,  and  there 
was  an  originality  of  conception  in  his  style  of  execra- 
tion which  was  what  the  Cockneys  call  most  refreshing. 
This  precocious  prodigy  could  not  be  much  above 
fifteen  ;  and,  if  he  lives,  will,  in  this  peculiar  depart- 
ment of  national  eloquence,  be  without  a  parallel.  I 
have  ''  erst  while  "  passed  through  Billingsgate,  when 


Th£  MAt)  MAJOR.  ^2 

the  fair  inhabitants  betrayed  symptoms  of  irritation ; 
I  have  heard  hackney-coachmen  cursing  at  a  crowded 
opera  over  a  fractured  panel  or  broken  pole  ;  I  have 
listened  to  a  score  of  watermen  squabbling  for  a  fare  at 
Westminster  Bridge  ;  I  have  been  on  board  a  transport 
in  a  gale  of  wind,  with  an  irreligious  commander  ;  but 
Tuam  for  ever  !    there,  cursing  is  perfection. 

Mine  is  but  a  rambling  narrative,  and  my  details, 
however  interesting,  lay  no  claim  to  the  lucidiis  or  do  ; 
therefore,  I  reserve  full  liberty,  from  the  very  start,  to 
bolt  into  digressions  when  and  as  I  please. 

Of  the  many  anecdotes  that  I  have  heard  my  father 
narrate  of  his  friend,  the  Mad  Major,  one  was  particu- 
larly characteristic. 

When  the  gallant  50th  were  removed  to  MuUingar, 
it  was  supposed  that  this  town  produced  a  greater  number 
of  beggars  than  any  in  the  king's  dominions  :  a  swarm 
of  paupers  rendered  the  streets  almost  impassable, 
and  ingress  or  egress  to  or  from  a  shop  was  occasionally 
impracticable.  Now,  beggars  were  to  the  Mad  Major 
an  abomination  ;  and  for  two  days  he  ensconced  him- 
self in  his  lodgings,  rather  than  encounter  the  mendicants 
of  Mullingar.  Confinement  will  increase  bile,  and  bile 
may  induce  gout ;  and  at  last,  wearied  of  captivity, 
he  sallied  forth,  and  to  every  application  for  relief, 
he  specified  an  early  day,  requesting  the  numerous 
supplicants  to  be  punctual  to  the  appointed  time.  His 
wish  was  faithfully  attended  to  ;  and  on  the  expected 
morning  the  street  where  he  resided  was  literally  blocked 
up.  The  Major,  under  a  volley  of  blessings,  appeared 
at  the  hall  door.  '*  Are  you  all  here  ?  "  he  inquired, 
in  accents  of  the  tenderest  compassion.  "All,  your 
honour — all,  young  and  owld  !  "  responded  a  big  beggar- 


24  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WESt. 

man.  *'  We*re  all  here,  colonel,  avorneen  !  "  exclaimed 
a  red  virago, ''  but  my  own  poor  man,  Brieney  Bokkogh  ;* 
and  he,  the  crater  !  fell  into  the  fire  a  Sunday  night, 
and  him  hearty,  and  sorrow  stir  he  can  make  good  nor 
bad."  "  Ah,  then,"  said  the  humane  commander, 
"  why  should  poor  Brien  be  left  out  ?  Arrah  !  run 
yourself,  and  bring  the  cripple  to  us."  In  a  twinkling 
off  went  the  red  virago,  and,  after  a  short  absence,  issued 
from  a  neighbouring  lane  with  Brieney  on  her  shoulders. 
"  Are  you  all  here  now  ?  "  inquired  the  tender-hearted 
chieftain.  "  Every  single  sowl  of  us,"  said  an  old  woman 
in  reply.  "  Ogh  !  that  the  light  of  heaven  may  shine 
on  his  honour's  dying  hour  ;  but  it's  he  that's  tender 
to  the  poor !  "  "Amen,  Amen !  "  responded  a 
hundred  voices.  "  Silence !  "  said  the  Mad  Major, 
as  he  produced  a  small  book  neatly  bound  in  red 
morocco.  '*  Whisht,  your  sowls !  "  cried  the  big 
beggarman.  "  Are  ye  listening  ?  "  "  Sha,  sha  !  yes, 
yes  !  "  was  responded  in  English  and  Irish.  "  Then, 
by  the  contents  of  this  blessed  book — and  it's  the  Bible 
— a  rap  I  won't  give  one  of  ye,  you  infernal  vagabonds, 
if  I  remained  a  twelvemonth  in  MulHngar  !  "  A  yell 
of  execrations  followed  ;  but  the  Major  bore  the  cursing 
like  a  philosopher,  and  kept  his  promise  like  a  monk. 
To  the  surprise  of  all,  the  beggars  left  the  way  when  he 
walked  out,  and  absconded  from  the  shop  he  entered. 
They  crossed  themselves  devoutly  if  they  encountered 
him  unexpectedly  at  a  corner,  adjuring  the  Lord  to 
"  stand  between  them,  the  Mad  Major,  and  the  devil !  " 
Apropos  to  cursing  ;  the  late  Sir  Charles  Asgill  told 
a  story  of  this  eccentric  personage.  During  the  time 
the  50th  remained  in  Ireland,  the  Colonel  was  mostly 

♦  Bryan  the  Cripple. 


THE  MAD  MAJOR.  2^ 

absent  from  ill-health,  and  the  command,  of  course, 
devolved  upon  the  Major.  By  one  of  the  military 
abuses  at  that  time  too  common,  a  little  Scotch  doctor, 
who  had  somehow  been  appointed  Adjutant  to  a  Fencible 
regiment,  was  transferred  from  it  to  the  50th.  Incom- 
petent from  professional  inability,  he  was  further  afflicted 
by  a  constitutional  nervousness,  that  made  him  badly 
calculated  to  come  in  contact  with  such  a  personage 
as  the  Mad  Major. 

Shortly  after  the  little  Scotchman  joined,  the  half- 
yearly  inspection  took  place.  Major  O'Farrell,  in 
the  course  of  his  evolutions,  found  it  requisite  to 
deploy  into  line,  and  called  to  his  field  assistant  "  to 
take  an  object."  ''  Have  you  got  one  ?  "  cried  the 
commander  in  a  voice  of  thunder.  "  Yes,  sir,"  replied 
the  alarmed  Adjutant,  in  a  feeble  squeak.  The  word 
was  given,  and  the  right  wing  kept  moving,  until  the 
face  of  the  regiment  assumed  the  form  of  a  semi-circle. 
"  Hallo  ! — where  or  what  is  your  object  ?  "  roared  the 
Major.  '*  A  crow,  sir,"  replied  the  unhappy  Scotsman. 
*'  And  where  is  the  crow  ?  "  roared  the  Commander. 
*'  Flown  off,"  was  the  melancholy  response.  *'  May  the 
devil  fly  away  with  you,  body  and  bones  !  Halt — dress  ! 
Stop,  Sir  Charles  ;  do  stop.  Just  allow  me  two  minutes 
to  curse  that  rascally  Adjutant."  To  so  reasonable  a 
request  Sir  Charles,  who  was  a  most  obliging  officer, 
readily  assented.  The  General  mentioned  often  that 
the  damning  of  a  stupid  Adjutant  was  no  novelty  ;  but 
that  he  never  saw  a  man  cursed  to  his  perfect  satisfac- 
tion until  he  heard  the  Scotch  doctor  anathematized 
in  the  Phoenix  Park. 

The  death  of  poor  Denis  was  in  such  perfect  keeping 
with  his  life,  that  I  am  tempted  to  give  it  to  you. 


26  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

The  regiment  was  in  garrison,  and  at  a  race-ball  a 
trifling  misunderstanding  occurred  between  a  young 
Ensign  and  a  country  gentleman.  It  was,  however, 
instantly  adjusted.  A  few  days  afterwards,  some  intem- 
perate expressions  which  had  fallen  from  the  gentleman 
at  the  ball  were  reported  to  the  Mad  Major.  These 
he  considered  as  reflecting  upon  the  character  of  his 
corps,  and  he  despatched  the  senior  Captain  for  an 
explanation.  The  answer  to  this  demand  was  unsatis- 
factory, and  the  Captain  was  directed  to  deliver  a  hostile 
message.  The  officers  of  the  "  Half  Hundred  "  were 
a  brave  body — they  vainly  endeavoured  to  make  it  a 
regimental  affair,  and  insisted  that  the  person  to  resent 
the  insult  should  be  indifferently  selected  (by  lot)  from 
the  corps. 

''  Gentlemen,  I  thank  you,"  said  the  Mad  Major, 
as  he  struck  his  broad  hand  upon  the  mess-table. 
''  Your  motives  are  personally  kind — but  as  I  am  at  the 
head  of  this  regiment,  I  hold  myself  to  be  the 
conservator  of  its  honour." 

That  evening  the  Major  had  a  violent  attack  of  gout, 
to  which  for  years  he  had  been  a  martyr — but  he  con- 
cealed it  carefully,  and  when  his  friend  called  him  on 
the  morning,  he  was  found  dressed  and  powdered,  but 

unable   to    move   without   assistance.     Captain    M 

pressed  upon  him  the  necessity  of  postponing  the 
meeting,  or  permitting  another  officer  to  be  his  sub- 
stitute ;  but  Denis  was  immovable  in  his  resolve.  He 
proceeded  to  the  ground,  and,  supported  by  a  crutch, 
after  a  discharge  of  pistols,  received  a  satisfactory  apology. 
Poor  fellow  !  this  was  his  last  feat.  Exposure  to  the 
cold  of  a  damp  spring  morning  brought  on  a  renewed 
attack  of  gout — that  night  the  disorder  settled  in  his 
stomach — and   the   morning   after   he   was   a   corpse. 


THE   MAD   MAJOR.  27 

The  body  was  carried  to  its  last  resting-place,  accom- 
panied by  all  the  pomp  of  a  military  funeral.  His  own 
beloved  company,  the  Grenadiers  who  had  often  followed 
their  lion-hearted  leader  into  action,  now  formed  his 
guard  of  honour  to  the  grave  ;  and  when  his  remains 
were  committed  to  the  earth  there  was  not  a  dry  eye 
among  the  '*  Dirty  Half  Hundred." 

Two  months  afterwards,  when  an  Irish  soldier  was 
questioned  on  the  merits  of  his  successor — *'  The  man 
is  well  enough,"  said  Pat,  with  a  heavy  sigh,  "  but 
where  will  we  find  the  equal  of  the  Mad  Major  ?  It 
was  a  comfort  to  be  cursed  by  him  !  " 


2S  WILD   SPORTS  O^  THE  WEST. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Without  any  adventure  worthy  of  a  place  in  this 
itinerary,  I  reached  in  safety  the  capital  of  Mayo.  From 
other  provincial  cities,  this  town  is  distinguished  in  having 
a  new  drop  and  an  old  gaol ;  a  swamp  in  the  centre  of 
the  town  surrounded  by  an  iron  chain,  judiciously 
placed  there,  I  imagine,  to  prevent  cattle  and  children 
being  lost  in  the  morass  which  it  environs  ;  a  court- 
house, with  a  piazza  and  fa9ade,  of  an  original  order  of 
architecture,  only  known  to  Irish  professors  of  the 
art  of  building  ;  trade  and  manufactures  are  limited  to 
felt-hats  and  poteen  whiskey  ;  and  the  only  machinery 
I  could  discover  was  the  drop,  aforesaid.  I  was  informed 
that  the  chapel  and  petty-sessions  are  generally  crowded, 
as  is  the  market,  upon  a  hanging-day. 

I  was  called  next  morning  at  five  o'clock  by  the 
waiter  to  proceed  by  the  Sligo  mail,  although  on  the 
preceding  night  I  had  taken  considerable  pains  to  persuade 
him  that  my  course  lay  westward.  One  hour  after- 
wards the  chamber  maid  roused  me  to  inquire  if  I  had 
any  intention  of  proceeding  to  Hollymount  by  a  hackney 
car.  To  save  these  worthy  people  further  trouble,  I 
arose  and  dressed,  and,  wishing  to  avoid  a  vestry  to  be 
that  day  holden  in  the  town,  and  where,  in  the  course 
of  argument,  it  was  believed  that  divers  lives  would 
be  lost,  I  took  an  early  breakfast,  and  departed. 

I  stopped  at  Newport ;  it  was  the  last  cluster  of 
houses,  arrogating  to  itself  the  title  of  a  town,  that  I 
should  now  meet  with,  for  I  had  reached  the  ultima 
Thule    of   civilised    Europe — and    when    I    had     given 


PROGRESS    INTO   TERRA    INCOGNITA.  29 

directions  to  the  postmaster  touching  the  transmission 
of  my  letters  in  my  cousin's  bag,  I  looked  around  me, 
and  took  a  silent  but  mournful  farewell  of  Christendom. 

I  found  at  the  public-house  that  my  kinsman  had 
provided  for  my  farther  progress  into  terra  incognita. 
A  couple  of  rudely-constructed  vehicles  were  waiting 
to  receive  myself  and  personal  property,  and  a  wild, 
bare-legged  mountaineer,  with  a  leathern  bag  strapped 
across  his  shoulders,  announced  himself  as  guide. 
"  Had  he  no  horse  ?  " — "  Devil  a  harse  !  but  he  would 
warrant  he  would  keep  up  with  me  " — and  away  we 
went  under  a  salute  of  our  dogs  and  the  furtive  glances 
of  sundry  ladies  with  their  hair  in  papers. 

Some  distance  from  the  town  we  crossed  an  ancient 
bridge  of  many  arches,  through  which  an  extensive 
lake  communicates  with  the  sea,  and  farther  on  passed 
the  old  tower  of  Carrigahowla.  Our  route  was  con- 
tiguous to  the  sea — on  the  left  were  the  numerous  islands 
of  Clew  Bay  ;  on  the  right  an  extensive  chain  of  savage 
hills  and  barren  moorland.  The  road  now  became 
hardly  passable  ;  constructed  without  the  least  regard 
to  levelness — here  it  dipped  into  a  ravine,  and  there 
breasted  some  sudden  hill,  inaccessible  to  any  carriage 
but  the  light  machines  we  travelled  with.  Its  surface 
was  rough,  and  interrupted  by  a  multitude  of  loose 
stones  ;  while  some  of  the  bridges  were  partially  dilapi- 
dated, and  others  had  never  been  completed.  In  these 
the  ragged  line  of  granite  which  formed  the  key-stones 
of  the  arches  stood  nakedly  up,  and  presented  a  barrier 
that  no  common  carriage  could  overtop  without 
endangering  its  springs  and  harness.  Yet  this  forlorn 
road  is  the  only  communication  with  a  highly  improv- 
able country,  covering  at  least  fifty  square  miles,  with 


30  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

numerous  and  profitable  islands  attached,  and  an 
immense  line  of  ^eacoast,  possessing  rich  fisheries, 
and  abounding  in  kelp-weed  and  manure  !  And  why 
was  this  neglect  ?  Were  the  proprietors  of  this  deserted 
district  so  cold  to  that  true  spring  of  human  action,  self- 
aggrandizement,  as  to  omit  providing  an  outlet  for  the 
sources  of  their  opulence  ?  Were  there  no  public  monies 
allocated  to  these  abandoned  corners  of  the  earth,  and 
so  much  lavishly  expended  on  many  a  useless  under- 
taking elsewhere  ?  Yes  :  large  sums  had  been  presented 
and  re- presented  by  the  Grand  Juries  for  the  last  twenty 
years,  but  they  have  been  regularly  pocketed  by  those 
to  whose  good  faith  they  were  entrusted.  Would  it 
be  believed  in  England,  George,  that  this  atrocious 
system  of  peculation  has  been  carried  to  such  an  extent 
that  roads  have  been  passed  as  completed  when  their 
lines  have  been  but  roughly  marked  out — and  bridges 
been  actually  paid  for,  the  necessary  accounting  affi- 
davits having  been  sworn  to  in  open  court,  when  not  a 
stone  was  ever  laid,  and  to  this  day  the  stream  runs 
without  a  solitary  arch  to  span  its  flood  from  the  source 
to  the  debouchement  ?  Ay — these  delinquencies  have 
been  often  and  notoriously  perpetrated,  and  none  have 
had  the  courage  to  drag  the  criminals  to  justice. 

At  the  clachan  of  Mulranny  we  struck  into  a  pass 
in  the  mountains,  and  turned  our  backs  upon  Clew  Bay.. 
A  branch  from  the  waters  of  Black  Sod  runs  some  ten 
miles  inland,  and  meets  this  opening  in  the  hills, 
affording  a  communication  by  boats  with  Erris.  There 
my  kinsman's  galley  was  waiting  for  me,  and  in  it  I 
embarked  my  person  and  establishment.  Taking 
advantage  of  a  south-westerly  wind,  the  boatmen  hoisted 
their  close-reefed  lug,  and  away  we  shot  rapidly  towards 


PROGRESS   INTO   TERRA   INCOGNITA.  3 1 

the  entrance  of  the  inlet.  From  the  high  lands  which 
rose  on  every  side,  the  squalls  fell  more  heavily  and 
frequent  than  I  found  agreeable  ;  but  in  an  hour  we 
cleared  this  confined  and  dangerous  channel,  and, 
running  between  Currane  Point  and  the  island  of  Innis 
Biggie,   entered   Black   Sod   Bay. 

The  passage  down  the  inlet  was  marked  with  several 
incidents  which  were  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  wild 
and  savage  scenery  around.  A  seal  would  suddenly 
raise  his  round  head  above  the  surface,  gaze  for  a  moment 
at  the  boat,  and,  when  he  had  apparently  satisfied  his 
curiosity,  sink  quietly  from  our  view.  In  rounding 
the  numerous  headlands  through  which  this  inlet  irreg- 
ularly winds,  we  often  started  flocks  of  curlews,  which, 
rising  in  an  alarm  at  our  unexpected  appearance,  made 
the  rocks  ring  with  their  loud  and  piercing  whistle. 
Skirting  the  shore  of  Innis  Biggie,  we  disturbed  an 
osprey,  or  sea-eagle,  in  the  act  of  feeding  on  a  bird. 
He  rose  leisurely,  and,  lighting  on  a  rock,  waited  till  we 
passed,  and  then  returned  to  his  prey.  We  ran  suffi- 
ciently close  to  the  shore  to  observe  the  size  and  colour 
of  the  bird,  and  concluded  that  a  grouse  had  been  the 
eagle's  victim. 

When  we  had  cleared  the  islands,  the  breeze  blew 
fresh  and  steadily  ;  the  boatmen  shook  out  the  reefs 
which  had  hitherto  confined  their  canvas  ;  the  galley 
with  increased  velocity  rushed  through  the  rippling 
water,  till,  doubling  a  neck  of  land  surmounted  by  a 
ruined  castle,  and  running  up  a  sheltered  creek,  I  found 
myself  at  the  termination  of  my  voyage,  and  warmly 
welcomed  by  my  Irish  kinsman,  from  whom  for  fifteen 
years  I  had  been  separated. 

I  have  been  here  three  days,  and  am  as  much  domes- 


32  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

ticated  in  the  mansion  as  my  cousin's  Newfoundland 
dog.  I  know  the  names  and  "  sobriquet  "  of  the  estab- 
Hshment ;  can  discriminate  between  "  Hamish-a-neilan  " 
(James  of  the  island)  and  Andy-hawn  (Fair  Andy) ;  I 
hold  converse  with  the  cook,  and  am  hand-in-glove 
with  the  housemaid.  Really,  I  am  delighted  with  the 
place,  for  everything  is  wild,  new,  and  out-of-the-way  ; 
but  I  must  describe  the  locale  of  my  kinsman's  domicile. 
At  the  bottom  of  a  narrow  creek  you  must  imagine 
"  a  low,  snug  dwelling,  and  in  good  repair."  The  foam 
of  the  Atlantic  breaks  sometimes  against  the  windows, 
while  a  huge  cliff,  seaward,  defends  it  from  the  storm, 
and,  on  the  land  side,  a  sudden  hill  shelters  it  from  the 
north  wind.  Here,  when  the  tempest  roars  abroad, 
your  friend  Laura  might  venture  forth  and  not  endanger 
a  papillotte.  The  bent*  roof  is  impervious  to  the  rain  ; 
the  rooms  are  neat,  well  arranged,  and  comfortable. 
In  the  parlour,  if  the  evening  be  chilly,  a  turf  fire 
sparkles  on  the  hearth  ;  and  when  dried  bog-deal  is 
added  to  the  embers,  it  emits  a  fragrant  and  delightful 
glow,  superseding  the  necessity  of  candles.  The  long 
and  measured  swell  of  the  Atlantic  would  almost  lull 
a  troubled  conscience  to  repose  ;  and  that  rural  hum, 
which  attends  upon  the  farmyard,  rouses  the  refreshed 
sleeper  in  the  morning.  In  the  calm  of  evening  I  hear 
the  shrill  cry  of  the  sand-lark  ;  and  in  the  early  dawn, 
the  crowing  of  the  cock  grouse.  I  see  the  salmon 
fling  themselves  over  the  smooth  tide,  as  they  hurry  from 
the  sea  to  re-ascend  their  native  river.  And  while  I 
drink  claret  that  never  paid  the  revenue  a  farthing, 
or  indulge  over  that  proscribed  beverage — the  produce 
and  the  scourge  of  this  wild  district — I  trace  from  the 

*  The  customary  thatch  in  parts  of  Erria. 


PROGRESS   INTO    TFRRA   INCOGNITA.  33 

window  the  outline  of  a  range  of  hills,  where  the  original 
red-deer  of  Ireland  are  still  existing — none  of  your 
park-fed  venison,  that  tame,  spiritless,  diminutive, 
which  a  boy  may  assassinate  with  his  *'  bir ding-piece," 
but  the  remnant  of  that  noble  stock,  which  hunters  of 
other  days,  O^ Connor  the  Cus  Dhu*  and  Cormac  Bawn 
Mac  Tavishy  once  delighted  in  pursuing. 

The  offices  of  this  wild  dwelling  are  well  adapted  to  the 
edifice.  In  winter  the  ponies  have  their  stable,  and  kine 
and  sheep  a  comfortable  shed.  Nor  are  the  dogs  for- 
gotten ;  for  them  a  warm  and  sheltered  kennel  is  fitted 
up  with  benches,  and  well  provided  with  straw.  Many 
a  sporting-lodge  in  England,  on  which  thousands  have 
been  expended,  lacks  the  comforts  of  my  kinsman's 
unpretending  cottage.  Where  are  the  coach-houses  ? 
Those,  indeed,  would  be  useless  appendages  ;  for  the 
nearest  road  on  which  a  wheel  could  turn  is  ten  miles 
distant  from  the  lodge. 

*  Blackfoot. 


34  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  last  post-bag  brought  a  large  supply  of  news- 
papers and  monthly  literature.  "  Gad-o '-mercy  !  " 
what  notions  the  fishermen  of  Cockaign  must  have  of 
the  "  gentle  art !  "  It  is  amusing  to  read  the  piscatory 
articles  so  seriously  put  forth  in  the  sporting  periodicals. 
No  persons  on  earth  suffer  more  personal  inconvenience 
than  the  Cockney  artist,  or  submit  so  patiently  to  pecu- 
niary imposition — and,  like  virtue,  their  trouble  is  its 
own  reward.  Punt-fishing  and  perch-fishing,  baiting- 
holes  and  baiting-hooks,  appear  to  the  mountain 
fisherman  so  utterly  worthless  that  I  do  not  wonder  at 
the  sovereign  contempt  with  which  he  regards  the 
unprofitable  pursuits  of  the  city  angler. 

What  a  contrast  to  the  Cockney  bustle  of  a  Londoner 
does  my  cousin's  simple  preparation  for  a  morning's 
sport  exhibit !  If  the  wind  and  clouds  are  favourable, 
the  rod,  ready  jointed  and  spliced,  is  lifted  from  beneath 
the  cottage  eave,  where  it  "  lay  like  a  warrior  taking  his 
rest  "  on  a  continuation  of  level  pegs.  The  gaff  and 
pannier  are  produced  by  a  loose-looking  mountaineer, 
whose  light-formed  but  sinewy  limbs  are  untrammelled 
by  shoe  or  stocking.  Fond  of  the  sport  himself,  he 
evinces  an  ardent  interest  in  your  success  ;  on  the  moor 
and  by  the  river  he  is  a  good-humoured  and  obliging  ^ 
assistant ;  traverses  the  mountains  for  a  day,  and  lies 
out  on  the  hill-side  through  the  long  autumnal  night, 
to  watch  the  passage  of  the  red  deer  as  they  steal  down 
from  the  mountain-top  to  browse  on  the  lower  grounds 
by  moonlight. 

How  different  from  this  wild  and  cheerful  follower 


HOOKING  MY   FIRST   SALMON.  35 

are  the  sporting  attendants  of  the  unhappy  Cockney  ! 
He  must  consort  with  "  bacon-fed  knaves,"  be  the 
companion  of  your  brawny,  jolter-headed,  porter- 
swollen  waterman,  who  in  sulky  silence  paddles  his 
employer  into  some  phlegmatic  pool,  where  the  disciple 
of  Walton  is  secure  of  the  lumbago,  but  by  no  means 
certain  of  a  sprat. 

In  truth,  I  am  half  ashamed  of  myself :  I  came  here 
loaded  with  rods,  flies  and  baskets,  with  the  "  thousand 
and  one  "  nameless  et  cetera  furnished  from  a  city 
tackle-shop,  in  their  uses  and  appearance  various  as  the 
cargo  of  the  ark.  When  I  displayed  yesterday  this 
accumulation  of  "  engines  and  cunning  devices,"  my 
cousin  burst  into  a  roar  of  laughter,  and  inquired  if  I 
intended  to  annihilate  the  fishery  ?  Then,  turning, 
leaf  by  leaf,  three  immense  fiy-books  over,  he  praised 
the  pretty  feathers,  commended  the  brightness  of  the 
tinsel,  and  good-naturedly  assured  me  that  this  rich 
assemblage  did  not  possess  a  fly  of  the  value  of  one 
farthing.  I  fear  his  verdict  was  a  true  one  ;  I  have 
tried  two  days  consecutively  and  never  hooked  a  fish. 
But  no,  the  water  was  too  low,  the  wind  too  high,  or 
something  was  amiss,  for  I  have  the  best  flies  procurable 
in  the  best  shop  in  London. 

The  storm  terminated,  as  summer  gales  do,  in  a  heavy 
fall  of  rain.  Although  the  wears  are  raised  to  intercept 
the  passage  of  the  fish  from  the  sea,  the  late  freshes, 
joined  to  a  spring  tide,  have  enabled  both  trout  and 
salmon  to  overleap  the  barrier  and  fill  the  pools  above 
it.  Want  of  success  had  damped  my  ardour  for  pisca- 
tion  ;  and,  besides,  I  had  involved  myself  in  a  most 
amusing  article  in  Blackwood,  and  felt  an  unwillingness 
to  lay  aside  the  book.     At  this  moment  of  indecision 


36  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

old  Antony,  the  otter-killer,  one  of  that  numerous  and 
nondescript  personages  who  locate  themselves  in  the 
houses  of  the  Irish  gentry,  passed  the  window  with  a 
fine  salmon  and  a  brace  of  trout  sixteen  inches  long. 
How  fresh  and  sparkling  is  the  phosphoric  shading  of  the 
scales,  as  the  old  man  turns  them  round  for  my  inspec- 
tion !  What  a  beautiful  fish !  it  barely  measures 
thirty  inches,  and  is  fully  ten  pounds  weight !  That 
short  and  deep-shouldered  briddawn*  is  worth  all  the 
lubberly  roach,  dace,  perch,  and  gudgeons  that  the 
Thames  contains  from  its  source  to  its  debouchement. 
I  looked  after  the  ancient  otter-hunter  with  envy. 
How  lowly  would  he  be  estimated  in  the  eyes  of  a  Cheap- 
side  fisherman ;  one  who  wears  a  modest-coloured 
jacket,-)-  lest  a  showy  garment  might  annoy  the  plethoric 
animals  he  is  dabbling  for — ^whose  white  basket  is 
constructed  of  the  finest  wicker-work — with  rods  and 
reels,  floats  and  flies,  pastes  and  patties,  lines  and  liqueurs 
sufficient  to  load  a  donkey — how  contemptuously  would 
he  look  down  upon  honest  Antony  !  Figure  to  your- 
self a  little  feeble  man,  dressed  in  a  jerkin  of  coarse 
blue  cloth,  with  an  otter  (a  fancy  of  my  cousin's) 
blazoned  on  his  arm  :  in  one  hand  he  holds  a  fish-spear, 
which  assists  him  when  he  meets  with  rugged  ground, 
in  the  other,  a  very  unpretending  angle,  jointed  rudely 
with  a  pen-knife,  and  secured  by  waxen  threads  ;  a- 
cast  of  flies  are  wound  about  his  hat,  and  his  remaining 
stock,  not  exceeding  half-a-dozen,  are  contained  between 

*  A  salmon. 

t  "  Our  forefathers  were  wont  to  pursue  even  their  amusements 
with  great  formality  :  an  angler,  a  century  and  a  half  back,  must 
have  his  fishing-coat,  which,  if  not  black,  must  at  least  be  of  a  very 
dark  colour,  a  black  velvet  cap,  like  those  which  jockeys  now  wear, 
and  a  rod  with  a  stock  like  a  halberd  ;  thus  equipped,  he  stalked 
forth,  followed  by  the  eyes  of  a  whole  neighbourhood." — -Daniel. 


HOOKING   MY   FIRST   SALMON.  37 

the  leaves  of  a  tattered  song-book  :  in  the  same  deposi- 
tory he  has  some  silk,  dyed  mohair,  a  hare's  ear,  and  a 
few  feathers  from  the  cock,  brown  turkey,  and  mallard  ; 
and  these  simple  materials  furnish  him  with  most  efficient 
flies,  but  he  requires  a  bright  day  to  fabricate  them,  as 
his  sight  is  indifferent. 

It  required  much  persuasion  and  a  positive  assurance 
of  success,  before  I  ventured  with  my  kinsman  to  the  river. 
Ten  minutes'  easy  walking  brought  us  to  a  noble  pool 
above  the  wear,  where  my  friend  never  fails  to  kill  a 
salmon,  if  the  wind  be  westerly  and  the  water  not  too 
low.  The  water  was  in  beautiful  order,  and  my  cousin 
insisted  that  under  his  direction  I  should  once  more 
try  my  fortune  with  the  fishing-rod.  Discarding  my 
gaudy  flies  with  a  malediction  upon  the  knaves  who 
tied  them,  he  affixed  two  of  his  upon  the  casting-line  ; 
and  nothing  could  be  of  a  simpler  character  than  those 
selected  from  his  book.  The  tail-fly  was  a  plain  black 
and  orange  mohair  body,  with  a  long  and  pointed  turkey- 
feather  wing  ;  the  dropper  was  formed  of  blue  and 
scarlet  wool,  ribbed  with  silver,  a  pheasant  sprit  for  legs, 
and  mixed  wings  of  the  turkey  and  mallard. 

I  made  several  unsuccessful  casts  :  '*  A  bad  look-out, 
friend  Julius.  Heaven  forfend  that  the  cook  has  placed 
any  dependence  on  the  angle  !  "  Again  I  tried  the  pool, 
and,  like  all  disappointed  fishermen,  began  to  prog- 
nosticate a  change  of  weather.  **  I  had  remarked 
mares'  tails  in  the  sky  yesterday  evening,  and  there  was 
rain  overhead,  for  a  hundred  !  "  My  cousin  smiled  ; 
w^hen  suddenly  my  nebulous  speculations  were  inter- 
rupted by  a  deep,  sluggish  roll  at  the  dropper.  '*  Mona- 
mondiaoul ! ''*  exclaimed  Mortien  Beg,\  as  he  caught 
*  An  Irish  imprecation.  f  I^ittle  Martin. 


38  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

a  momentary  glance  of  the  broad  and  fan-like  tail. 
"  He  is  fifteen  pound  weight !  "  Obedient  to  the 
directions  of  my  mentor,  I  left  the  spot  the  salmon 
leaped  in,  and  commenced  casting  a  dozen  yards  below 
it.  Gradually  I  came  over  him  again.  "  A  light  cast, 
Frank,  and  you  have  him  !  "  I  tried,  and  succeeded 
gallantly.  I  sent  the  fly  across  the  water  with  the 
lightness  of  the  thistle's  down  as  at  the  same  moment 
the  breeze  eddied  up  the  stream,  and  curled  the  surface 
deliciously.  A  long,  dull  ruffle  succeeded — ^whish ! 
span  the  wheel ;  whish-h-h-h-h,  whish-h-h,  whish  !  I 
have  him  ! 

Nothing  can  be  more  beautiful  than  the  play  of  a 
vigorous  salmon.  The  lubberly  struggles  of  a  pond- 
fish  are  execrable  to  him  who  has  felt  the  exquisite 
pleasure  that  attends  the  conquest  of  '*  the  monarch 
of  the  stream."  His  bold  rushes — his  sudden  and 
rapid  attempts  to  liberate  himself  from  the  fisher's 
thrall — ^the  energy  with  which  he  throws  his  silver  body 
three  or  four  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  water — and 
the  unwearied  and  incessant  opposition  he  makes,  until 
his  strength  is  exhausted  by  the  angler's  science  ;  all 
this  must  be  experienced  to  be  adequately  conceived. 
In  ten  minutes  I  mastered  my  beautiful  victim  ;  and 
Mortien  Beg  gaffed  and  landed  a  splendid  summer 
fish,  which,  if  the  cook's  scales  be  correct,  weighed 
thirteen  pounds  and  seven  ounces. 

Overjoyed  with  my  success,  I  proceeded  up  the 
river.  My  cousin  brought  me  to  several  delightful 
pools  ;  and,  with  his  assistance,  I  raised  and  hooked 
several  capital  fish,  but  only  landed  one  of  them,  a  nice 
and  active  salmon  of  about  eight  pounds  weight.  From 
half  a  dozen  white  trout  fresh  from   the  sea  I  received 


HOOKING   MY   FIRST   SALMON  39 

excellent  amusement ;  and  at  six  o'clock  returned  to 
dinner  gratified  with  my  sport,  pleased  with  myself, 
and  at  peace  with  all  mankind,  excepting  that  confounded 
cozener,  the  tackle-merchant  in Street. 

Over  our  wine,  the  conversation  naturally  turned 
upon  the  "  gentle  art."  My  kinsman  is  both  a  practical 
and  a  scientific  angler.  "  Holding,  with  few  excep- 
tions, all  published  sporting  productions  in  disrepute, 
one  that  I  remarked  on  your  bookstand,  Julius,  strikes 
me  as  being  at  the  same  time  clever  and  useful  :  I  mean 
Sir  Humphry  Davy's." 

"It  is  both,  Frank:  his  account  of  the  habits  and 
natural  history  of  the  salmon  species  is  just,  ingenious, 
and  amusing  ;  and  there  is  a  calm  and  philosophic 
spirit  that  pervades  the  whole,  rendering  it  a  work  of 
more  than  common  interest.  But,  practically,  it  is 
as  useless  as  all  Guides  and  Manuals,  since  the  days  of 
Walton.  Of  the  uninitiated  it  will  make  fishermen, 
where  Colonel  Hawker's  directions  enables  a  man  to 
shoot,  who  has  never  been  five  miles  from  Holborn- 
bars.  I  doubt  not  but  Sir  Humphry  was  an  ardent  and 
scientific  fisherman,  but  in  many  practical  points  I 
differ  with  him.  He  angled  well,  but  he  fished  like  a 
philosopher.  If  he  haunted  this  river  for  a  season, 
unless  he  altered  his  system  materially,  he  would  not 
kill  a  dozen  salmon.  Flies,  such  as  he  describes,  would 
never,  in  any  seasons  or  weathers,  be  successful  here. 
He  fairly  says,  that  '  different  rivers  require  different 
flies  ;  '  but  nothing  like  those  he  recommends  would 
answer  this  one  ; — and,  although  many  of  the  theories 
and  speculative  opinions  are  very  ingenious,  I  question 
much  their  vaHdity." 


40  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST 


CHAPTER  VII. 


The  morning  had  a  sullen  look  ;  Slieve  More  retained 
his  nightcap  ;  the  edge  of  the  horizon  where  the  ocean 
met  the  sky  was  tinged  with  a  threatening  glare  of  lurid 
sunshine  ;  the  wind  was  capricious  as  a  woman's  love 
— now  swelling  into  gusts,  now  sinking  to  a  calm,  as 
the  unsteady  breeze  shifted  round  to  every  point  "  i' 
the  shipman's  card."  As  evening  approached,  the 
clouds  collected  in  denser  masses,  and  the  giant  outline 
of  Slieve  More  was  lost  in  a  sheet  of  vapour.  The  swell 
from  the  Atlantic  broke  louder  on  the  bar  ;  the  piercing 
whistle  of  the  curlew  was  heard  more  frequently  ;  and 
the  small  hard- weather  tern,  which  seldom  leaves  the 
Black  Rock  but  to  harbinger  a  coming  tempest,  was 
ominously  busy ;  whirling  aloft  in  rapid  circles,  or 
plunging  its  long  and  pointed  wing  into  the  broken 
surface  of  the  billow.  All  portended  a  storm  ;  the  wind 
freshened  momentarily,  and  at  last  blew  steadily  from 
the  south-east. 

I  was  at  the  door,  engaged  in  speculating  upon  the 
signs  of  the  approaching  gale,  when  old  John,  my 
kinsman's  grey-headed  butler,  summoned  me  to  dinner. 
— Some  say  that  a  bachelor's  repast  has  always  a  lonely 
and  comfortless  appearance  ;  and  it  may  be  so.  I 
grant  that  a  sprinkling  of  the  sexes  adds  to  the  social 
character  of  the  table  ;  but  this  apart,  with  the  abate- 
ment of  that  best  society — lovely  woman,  who  shall 
dine  more  luxuriously  than  I  ?  Two  hours'  rabbit- 
shooting  in  the  sand-hills  has  given  me  a  keen  and  whole- 


THE   BLIND   SEAL.  4I 

some  appetite.  That  salmon  at  noon  was  disporting 
in  the  sea,  and  this  kid  was  fatted  among  the  heath- 
flowers  of  the  mountain-glen.  Kitchener  and  Kelly 
could  take  no  exception  to  the  cookery  ;  and  had  these 
worthies  still  been  inhabitants  of  ''  this  fair  round 
globe,"  the  Doctor  would  have  found  ample  amusement 
for  "  every  man's  master,  the  stomach,"  and  honest 
Myke  might  have  safely  ventured  to  dinner  without 
his  "  sauce  piquantey 

In  due  time  the  cloth  disappeared  ;  a  bundle  of 
split  bog-deal  was  laid  upon  the  hearth,  and  speedily 
lighted  into  a  cheerful  blaze.  Old  John,  with  the  privi- 
lege of  an  ancient  retainer,  conversed  with  us  as  he 
extracted  a  fresh  cork  for  the  evening's  potation.  "Awful 
weather  in  July,  sir.  Well,  that  Shawn  a  tra  buoy*  is 
a  wonderful  beast  ;  I  knew  a  change  of  weather  was  at 
hand  when  he  rose  beside  the  shore  last  night,  and 
showed  his  grey  head  and  shoulders  over  the  water." 

"  Is  the  seal,  John,  a  sure  foreteller  of  an  approaching 
storm  ?  " 

"  A  certain  one,  sir  :    I  remember  him  from  1  was  a 
boy  in  the  old  master's  kitchen — the  Lord  be  merciful 
to  his  soul  !     Shawn  a  tra  buoy's  features  are  as  familiar 
to  me  as  my  own  ;    I  would  swear  to  him  among  a 
thousand." 

*'  You  see  him  frequently  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  sir.  When  the  salmon  come  in,  he  is  every 
day  upon  the  yellow  strand  opposite  the  lodge  ;  there 
you  will  see  him  chase  the  fish  into  the  shoal-water, 
catch  them  beside  the  boats,  ay,  or  if  that  fails,  take  them 
from  the  nets,  and  rob  the  fishermen.  Year  after  year 
he  has  returned  with  the  salmon,  spending  his  summer 

*  Jack  of  the  3'ellow  strand. 


42  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

on   the     *  tra-buoy,'     and    his   winter   near     Carrig-a- 
boddagh." 

"  How  has  he  escaped  so  long,  John  ?  Has  he  not 
been  often  fired  at?  " 

"  A  thousand  times  ;  the  best  marksmen  in  the 
country  have  tried  him  without  success.  People  say 
that,  like  the  master  otter ^  he  has  a  charmed  life  ;  and 
latterly  nobody  meddles  with  him." 

Old  John's  narrative  was  interrupted  by  the  entrance 
of  another  personage  ;  he  was  a  stout,  burly-looking 
man,  with  indifferent  good  features,  a  figure  of  uncommon 
strength,  and  a  complexion  of  the  deepest  bronze.  He 
is  the  skipper  of  my  cousin's  hooker.  After  a  career 
of  perilous  adventure  in  piloting  the  Flushing  smugglers 
to  the  coast,  he  has  abandoned  his  dangerous  trade,  to 
pass  an  honester  and  safer  life  in  future. 
"  Well,  Pattigo,^  what  news  ?  " 

"  The  night  looks  dirty  enough,  sir  ;  shall  we  run 
the  hooker  round  to  Tallaghon,  and  get  the  rowing- 
boats  drawn  up  ?  "  His  master  assented,  and  ordered 
him  the  customary  glass  of  poteen.  Pattigo  received 
it  graciously  in  the  fingers  of  his  right  hand — for  he  has 
lost  his  thumb  by  the  bursting  of  a  blunderbuss  in  one 
of  his  skirmishes  with  the  Revenue — made  his  ship-shape 
bow,  clapped  his  sou'-wester  on,  and  vanished. 

The  storm  came  on  apace  ;  large  and  heavy  drops  . 
struck  heavily  against  the  windows  ;  the  blast  moaned 
round  the  house  ;  I  heard  the  boats'  keels  grate  upon 
the  gravel  as  the  fishermen  hauled  them  up  the  beach  ; 
I  saw  Pattigo  slip  his  moorings,  and,  under  the  skirt  of 
his  main-sail,  run  for  a  safer  anchorage.  The  rain  now 
fell  in  torrents  ;  the  sea  rose,  and  broke  upon  the  rocks 
*  A  by-name. 


THE  BLIND   SEAL.  43 

in  thunder ;  mine  host  directed  the  storm-shutters 
to  be  put  up,  ordered  in  candles,  with  a  fresh  supply 
of  billets  for  the  fire,  and  we  made  final  preparations 
to  be  comfortable  for  the  night. 

Were  I  required  to  name  the  most  recherche  of  my 
kinsman's  luxuries,  I  should  specify  his  unrivalled 
"  canastre."  An  ample  quantity  of  this  precious  tahac 
(brought  from  Holland  by  a  smuggler),  with  excellent 
Dutch  pipes,  was  produced  by  honest  John,  who  rises 
hourly  in  my  estimation.  There  was  also  an  addendum 
in  the  shape  of  a  foreign-looking  bottle,  which  the 
ancient  servitor  averred  to  have  been  deposited  in  the 
cellar  since  the  time  of  "  the  master's  father."  If  it 
were  so,  the  thing  is  a  marvel  ;  for  such  liquor  is  rarely 
vouchsafed  to  mortals.  Alas  !  George,  while  my  aching 
head  testifies  a  too  devoted  attachment  to  that  misshapen 
flask,  the  unequalled  flavour  of  the  exquisite  schiedam 
it  contained  will  ever  haunt  my  memory, 

I  remarked,"  said  my  kinsman,  as  he  struck  the 
ashes  from  his  meerschaum,  "  that  you  appeared  amused 
with  old  John's  history  of  Shawn  a  tra  buoy.  Although 
in  its  wild  state,  the  seal  is  always  shy,  and  sometimes 
dangerous,  yet,  when  taken  young,  it  is  easily  domesti- 
cated, and  susceptible  of  strong  attachment  to  its 
keepers.  In  January,  1819,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Burnt  Island,  a  gentleman  completely  succeeded  in 
taming  a  seal  ;  its  singularities  attracted  the  curiosity 
of  strangers  daily.  It  appeared  to  possess  all  the  sagacity 
of  the  dog,  and  lived  in  its  master's  house,  and  ate  from 
his  hand.  In  his  fishing  excursions  this  gentleman 
generally  took  it  with  him  ;  upon  which  occasion  it 
afforded  no  small  entertainment.  When  thrown  into 
the  water,  it  would  follow  for  miles  the  track  of  the 


44  WILD   SPORTS    OF   THE   WEST. 

boat,  and  although  thrust  back  by  the  oars,  it  never 
rehnquished  its  purpose  ;  indeed,  it  struggled  so  hard 
to  regain  its  seat,  that  one  would  imagine  its  fondness 
for  its  master  had  entirely  overcome  the  natural  predi- 
lection for  its  native  element.  There  is  a  curious  story 
told  of  one  of  these  animals — I  believe  the  leading 
incidents  of  the  narrative  to  be  perfectly  authentic, 
and  it  is  a  memorable  record  of  enduring  attachment 
in  the  animal,  and  exquisite  barbarity  in  the  man.  The 
tale  runs  thus  : — 

"  About  40  years  ago  a  young  seal  was  taken  in  Clew 
Bay,  and  domesticated  in  the  kitchen  of  a  gentleman, 
whose  house  was  situated  on  the  sea-shore.  It  grew 
apace,  became  familiar  with  the  servants,  and  attached 
to  the  house  and  family  ;  its  habits  were  innocent  and 
gentle  ;  it  played  with  the  children,  came  at  its  master's 
call,  and,  as  the  old  man  described  him  to  me,  was  *  fond 
as  a  dog,  and  playful  as  a  kitten.' 

*'  Daily  the  seal  went  out  to  fish,  and,  after  providing 
for  his  own  wants,  frequently  brought  in  a  salmon  or 
turbot  to  his  master.  His  delight  in  summer  was  to 
bask  in  the  sun,  and  in  winter  to  lie  before  the  fire, 
or,  if  permitted,  creep  into  the  large  oven,  which  at  that 
time  formed  the  regular  appendage  of  an  Irish  kitchen. 
"  For  four  years  the  seal  had  been  thus  domesticated, 
when,  unfortunately,  a  disease,  called  in  this  country 
the  crippawn — a  kind  of  paralytic  affection  of  the  limbs, 
which  generally  ends  fatally — attacked  some  black  cattle 
belonging  to  the  master  of  the  house  ;  some  died,  others 
became  infected,  and  the  customary  cure  produced  by 
changing  them  to  drier  pasture  failed.  A  wise  woman 
was  consulted,  and  the  hag  assured  the  credulous  owner 
that  the  mortality  among  his  cows  was  occasioned  by 


THE    BLIND    SEAL.  45 

his  retaining  an  unclean  beast  about  his  habitation — 
the  harmless  and  amusing  seal.  It  must  be  made  away 
with  directly,  or  the  crippawn  would  continue,  and  her 
charms  be  unequal  to  avert  the  malady.  The  super- 
stitious wretch  consented  to  the  hag's  proposal ;  and  the 
seal  was  put  on  board  a  boat,  carried  out  beyond  Clare 
Island,  and  there  committed  to  the  deep,  to  manage 
for  himself  as  he  best  could.  The  boat  returned,  the 
family  retired  to  rest,  and  next  morning  a  servant 
awakened  her  master  to  tell  him  that  the  seal  was  quietly 
sleeping  in  the  oven.  The  poor  animal  overnight  came 
back  to  his  beloved  home,  crept  through  an  open  window, 
and  took  possession  of  his  favourite  resting-place. 

"  Next  morning  another  cow  was  reported  to  be 
unwell  ;  and  the  seal  must  now  be  finally  removed. 
A  Galway  fishing-boat  was  leaving  Westport  on  her 
return  home,  and  the  master  undertook  to  carry  oflF 
the  seal,  and  not  put  him  overboard  until  he  had  gone 
leagues  beyond  Innis  Boffin.  It  was  done  ;  a  day  and 
night  passed  ;  the  second  evening  closed  ;  the  servant 
was  raking  the  fire  for  the  night ;  something  scratched 
gently  at  the  door — it  was,  of  course,  the  house-dog — 
she  opened  it,  and  in  came  the  seal !  Wearied  with 
his  long  and  unusual  voyage,  he  testified,  by  a  peculiar 
cry  expressive  of  pleasure,  his  delight  to  find  himself 
at  home  ;  then  stretching  himself  before  the  glowing 
embers  of  the  hearth,  he  fell  into  a  deep  sleep. 

"  The  master  of  the  house  was  immediately  apprised 
of  this  unexpected  and  unwelcome  visit.  In  the 
exigency,  the  beldame  was  awakened  and  consulted  : 
she  averred  that  it  was  always  unlucky  to  kill  a  seal, 
but  suggested  that  the  animal  should  be  deprived  of 
sight  and  a  third   time  carried   out  to  sea.      To  this 


46  WILD  SPORTS   OF    THE  WEST 

fiendish  proposition  the  besotted  wretch  who  owned  the 
house  consented  ;  and  the  affectionate  and  confiding 
creature  was  cruelly  robbed  of  sight  on  that  hearth, 
for  which  he  had  resigned  his  native  element  !  Next 
morning,  writhing  in  agony,  the  mutilated  seal  was 
embarked,  taken  outside  Clare  Island,  and  for  the  last 
time  committed  to  the  waves. 

"  A  week  passed  over,  and  things  became  worse 
instead  of  better  ;  the  cattle  of  the  truculent  wretch 
died  fast,  and  the  infernal  hag  gave  him  the  pleasurable 
tidings  that  her  arts  were  useless,  and  that  the  destruc- 
tive visitation  upon  his  cattle  exceeded  her  skill  and 
cure. 

"  On  the  eighth  night  after  the  seal  had  been  devoted 
to  the  Atlantic,  it  blew  tremendously.  In  the  pauses 
of  the  storm  a  wailing  noise  at  times  was  faintly  heard 
at  the  door.  The  servants,  who  slept  in  the  kitchen, 
concluded  that  the  Banshee  came  to  forewarn  them  of 
an  approaching  death,  and  buried  their  heads  in  the 
bed-coverings.  When  morning  broke,  the  door  was 
opened — and  the  seal  was  there  lying  dead  upon  the 
threshold  !  *' 

"  Stop,  Julius  !  "  I  exclaimed,  "  give  me  a  moment's 
time  to  curse  all  concerned  in  this  barbarism." 

"  Be  patient,  Frank,"  said  my  cousin,  *'  the  finale  will 
probably  save  you  that  trouble.  The  skeleton  of  the 
once  plump  animal — for,  poor  beast,  it  perished  from 
hunger,  being  incapacitated  from  blindness  to  procure 
its  customary  food — was  buried  in  a  sand-hill,  and  from 
that  moment  misfortunes  followed  the  abettors  and  per- 
petrators of  this  inhuman  deed.  The  detestable  hag 
who  had  denounced  the  inoffensive  seal  was,  within 
a  twelvemonth,  hanged  for  murdering  the  illegitimate 


THE  BLIND  SEAL.  47 

offspring  of  her  own  daughter.  Everything  about  this 
devoted  house  meked  away  ;  sheep  rotted,  cattle  died, 
*and  blighted  was  the  corn.'  Of  several  children, 
none  reached  maturity,  and  the  savage  proprietor 
survived  everything  he  loved  or  cared  for.  He  died 
blind  and  miserable. 

"  There  is  not  a  stone  of  that  accursed  building 
standing  upon  another.  The  property  has  been  passed 
to  a  family  of  a  different  name,  and  the  series  of  incessant 
calamity  which  pursued  all  concerned  in  this  cruel  deed 
is  as  romantic  as  true." 

It  was  midnight ;  I  laid  down  my  pipe,  took  a  candle 
from  the  sideboard,  wished  my  cousin  a  "  good  night," 
and  went  to  bed,  full  of  pity  for  the  gentle  and  affec- 
tionate seal. 


48  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  night  throughout  continued  wild  and  blus- 
trous  ;  the  squalls  which  shook  the  casements  became 
less  frequent  and  violent  towards  morning  ;  the  wind 
settled  in  the  south,  and  dying  gradually  away,  was 
succeeded  by  a  heavy  and  constant  fall  of  rain.  To 
stir  out  of  doors  was  impossible  ;  the  Lodge  is  unpro- 
vided with  a  billiard- table,  and  it  requires  ingenuity 
to  contrive  some  occupation  for  the  long  duration  of  a 
summer's  day. 

The  breakfast  was  prolonged  as  much  as  possible  ; 
it  ended,  however,  and  my  kinsman  left  me  to  give 
some  necessary  directions  to  his  household.  I  seated 
myself  in  the  window  ;  the  view  seaward  was  interrupted 
by  the  thickness  of  the  weather,  the  rain  dropped  from 
the  thatch  incessantly,  the  monotonous  splash  of  the 
falling  water,  with  the  sombre  influence  of  a  dull  and 
torpid  atmosphere,  gradually  produced  a  drowsiness, 
and  I  fell  fast  asleep  over  a  dull  collection  of  sporting 
anecdotes.  My  cousin's  return  roused  me  ;  he  placed 
a  spider-table  beside  the  window,  and  having  unlocked 
a  box  filled  with  angling  materials,  "  in  great  and  mar- 
vellous disorder,"  proceeded  to  extract  from  a  mass, 
of  unmentionable  things  the  requisites  for  dressing 
a  cast  or  two  of  flies.  As  my  own  voluminous  book 
had  been  sadly  discomposed  in  the  numerous  inter- 
changes I  made,  when  vainly  trying  to  seduce  a  salmon 
to  try  my  ''  tinsel  and  fine  feathers,"  I  proceeded  to 
arrange  my  splendid  collection,  while  my  kinsman  was 
busied  with  his  own  simple  stock      The  disappointment 


PISCATORY   DISQUISITIONS.  49 

I  had  endured  in  finding  my  flies  so  unprofitable,  had 
made  me  hold  the  entire  outfit  of  the  London  artist  in 
disrepute  ;  and  I  would  have  given  my  most  elaborate 
and  expensive  fishing-rod  for  the  hazel  angle  of  the  ancient 
otter-killer. 

"  Frank,"  said  my  cousin,  "  you  m.ust  not  undervalue 
what  really  is  unexceptionable  ;  I  mean  the  mechanical 
part  of  your  collection.  Those  rods  are  beautiful  ; 
and  your  reels,  lines,  gut,  and  hooks  cannot  be  surpassed  ; 
your  flies  may  be  excellent  in  an  English  river,  so  put 
them  carefully  aside,  as  I  will  supply  you  with  some  better 
adapted  to  our  mountain  streams.  But  what  a  size 
that  book  is  !  In  fishing,  as  in  literature,  the  school- 
men's adage  holds,  Mega  biblion,  mega  kakon.  Why, 
nothing  but  a  soldier's  pack  would  carry  it !  We  will 
soon,  however,  render  you  independent  of  this  mighty 
magazine,  by  teaching  you  to  fabricate  your  own  flies." 

"  I  fear  I  am  too  old  to  learn  ;  the  art  of  tying  must, 
I  presume,  be  acquired  early  in  life,  and  brought  to 
perfection  by  after  experience." 

"  This  does  not  always  follow  ;  I  did,  when  a  boy, 
tie  flies  passably  ;  but,  having  left  off  fishing  when  I 
removed  from  my  native  river,  I  forgot  the  art,  and 
depended  on  others  for  my  supply.  The  person  who 
furnished  my  casting-lines  fell  sick,  and  it  unluckily 
happened  that  his  illness  occurred  in  the  best  period 
of  the  season  ;  and  as  the  river  was  filled  with  fish, 
constant  service  soon  wore  out  my  scanty  store.  Neces- 
sity is  the  mother — you  know  the  proverb — I  was 
sadly  reduced ;  ground  blunted  hooks  and  patched 
ravelling  bodies,  till  at  last  my  stock  was  reduced  to 
half-a-dozen,  and  that  half-dozen  to  perfect  skeletons. 
What  was  to  be  done  ?     Man  is  an  imitative  animal — 


50  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

I  endeavoured  to  fabricate — produced  something 
between  a  bird  and  a  bee — ^tried  again,  succeeded  better  ; 
and  before  my  artist  had  recovered,  by  the  shade  of 
Wakon  !    I  could  turn  out  a  reputable  fly." 

"  I  believe  I  must  make  an  attempt." 

"  You  shall  succeed,  and,  as  a  preliminary,  I  will  put 
you  under  the  tutelage  of  my  worthy  neighbour,  the  priest. 
Observe  his  style  of  casting,  and  mark  the  facility  with 
which  he  sends  five-and-thirty  feet  of  hair  and  gut 
across  the  broadest  pool.  I  fish  tolerably,  but  have 
repeatedly  laid  aside  my  rod  to  admire  the  beautiful 
casting  of  this  perfect  master  of  the  angle.'* 

"  He  ties  a  very  handsome  fly,  no  doubt." 

"  I  won't  say  that — ^he  ties  a  very  killing  one.  I 
expect  him  presently  ;  and  as  the  day  is  wet,  I'll  leave 
the  materials  ready,  and  to-morrow,  if  the  rain  ceases 
soon,  we  shall  prove  the  value  of  his  flies. 

"  As  we  are  on  the  subject  of  tying,  I  must  observe 
that  the  advantage  one  derives  from  being  able  to 
construct  his  own  flies  is  wonderful ;  in  fact,  without 
attaining  this  accomplishment  in  the  *  gentle  art '  no 
one  can  fish  comfortably  or  successfully.  No  stock, 
however  extensive,  will  afford  a  supply  adapted  for 
every  change  of  weather  and  water  ;  and  a  man  may  lose 
a  day  overlooking  an  interminable  variety  of  kinds  and 
colours  in  a  vain  search  after  one  killing  fly.  Not 
so  the  artist :  the  favourite  insect  being  once 
ascertained,  he  speedily  produces  an  imitation,  and 
fills  his  basket ;  while  his  less  fortunate  neighbour 
is  idly  turning  the  pages  of  his  over-stocked  fishing-book. 
"  I    had    two    sporting    friends,   who    were   excellent 

instances  of  this.     Colonel  S was  an  ardent,  and, 

I  may  add,  a  very  tolerable  angler  ;    and  no  one  went 


PISCATORY  DISQUISITIONS.  5 1 

to  more  trouble  and  expense  in  procuring  the  most 
approved  flies.  He  never  tied,  or  attempted  to  tie  one, 
and  he  assured  me  he  had  many  hundred  dozens  in  his 
possession.  To  find  a  new  fly  was  with  him  sometimes 
the  labour  of  a  day  ;  and  when  about  to  try  another 
water,  he  would  spend  hours  toiling  through  his  immense 
collection  before  he  could  succeed  in  discovering  the 
necessary  colour  and  description.  I  have  seen  him, 
with  Job-like  patience,  labouring  through  endless  papers 
and  parcels  in  search  of  a  paltry  insect  that  I  could 
fabricate  in  five  minutes. 

"  His  companion,  Captain  B ,  ran  into  an  opposite 

extreme.  He  rarely  had  a  second  casting-line,  and 
seldom  a  second  set  of  flies.  Did  the  day  change, 
or  the  river  fill  or  lower,  he  sat  down  on  the  bank,  ripped 
wings  and  dubbings  from  his  hooks,  and  prepared  a 
new  outfit  in  a  twinkling.     I  never  met  an  angler  who 

was  so  certain  of  filling  a  basket  as  my  friend  B . 

His  system,  however,  I  would  totally  disapprove  of. 
Without  burthening  oneself  with  enough  to  furnish  out 
a  tackle-shop,  a  small  and  effective  collection  is  desirable  ; 
and  it  is  absurd  to  lose  a  fortunate  half-hour  tying  on 
the  river  bank,  what  could  be  more  conveniently  fabri- 
cated during  the  tedium  of  a  wet  day  within  doors. 
An  accident  may  rob  the  most  discreet  angler  of  his 
flies,  and  surely  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  fresh  relay  to 
put  up.  But  though  I  take  a  sufficiency  along  with  me, 
I  never  leave  home  without  being  provided  with  the 
materials  for  constructing  new  ones.  An  hour  may 
bring  ephemerae  on  the  waters,  which  you  must  imitate, 
or  you  will  cast  in  vain  ;  before  evening  they  have 
vanished  and  given  place  to  some  new  variety  of  the 
insect  world.     Thus  far,  at  least,  the  tier  possesses  an 


52 


WILD   SPORTS    OF   THE   WEST. 


advantage  over  him  who  cannot  produce  a  fly,  that  no 
collection  which  human  ingenuity  can  form  will  com- 
pensate. 

"  The  best  practical  lesson  I  ever  got  originated  in 
the  following  accidental  occurrence.  Some  years  ago 
I  received  private  information  that  a  travelling  tinker, 
who  occasionally  visited  these  mountains  to  make  and 
repair  the  tin  stills  used  by  the  peasantry  in  illicit  dis- 
tillation, was  in  the  constant  habit  of  destroying  fish, 
and  he  was  represented  as  being  a  most  successful 
poacher.  I  was  returning  down  the  river  after  an 
unfavourable  day,  a  wearied  and  a  disappointed  fisher- 
man, and  observed,  at  a  short  distance,  a  man  chased 
across  the  bogs  by  several  others,  and  eventually  over- 
taken and  secured.  It  was  the  unfortunate  tinker, 
surprised  by  the  keepers  in  the  very  act  of  landing  a 
splendid  salmon  ;  two,  recently  killed,  were  discovered 
in  his  wallet,  and  yet  that  blessed  day  I  could  not  hook 
a  fish  !  He  was  forthwith  brought  in  durance  before 
my  honour  to  undergo  the  pains  and  penalties  of  his 
crime.  He  was  a  strange,  raw-boned,  wild-looking 
animal,  and  I  half  suspect  Sir  Walter  Scott  had  seen 
him  before  he  sketched  Watt  Tinlin  in  the  '  Lay.' 
He  was  a  convicted  felon — he  had  no  plea  to  offer,  for 
he  was  taken  in  the  very  act.  But  he  made  two  pro- 
positions wherewithal  to  obtain  his  liberty — '  He 
would  never  sin  again — or  he  would  fight  any  two  of  the 
captors.*  My  heart  yearned  towards  him — he  was, 
after  all,  a  brother — and  admitting  that  rod  and  coat 
were  not  worth  threepence,  still  he  was  an  adept  in  the 
'  gentle  art,  '  although  the  most  ragged  disciple  that 
ever  Walton  boasted.  I  forgave  him,  dismissed  the 
captors,  and  ordered  him  to  the  Lodge  for  refreshment. 


PISCATORY    DISQUISITIONS.  53 

*  My  honour  had  no  sport,'  and  he  looked  carelessly 
at  my  flies.  *  Would  I  condescend  to  try  one  of  his  ?  ' 
And  he  put  a  strange-looking  combination  of  wool 
and  feathers  on  the  casting-line.  There  was  a  fine 
pool  near  us — I  tried  it,  and  at  the  second  cast  I  was 
fast  in  a  twelve-pound  salmon !  My  ragged  friend 
remained  with  me  some  days  ;  and  in  his  sober  intervals, 
'  few  and  far  between,'  gave  me  lessons  in  the  art 
that  have  been  more  serviceable  than  any  I  had  hitherto 
acquired. 

"  Two  years  after  I  was  obliged  to  attend  the  winter 
fair  of  Ball  to  purchase  cattle.  It  was  twilight  when 
I  left  it,  and  I  had  proceeded  only  a  few  miles  towards 
a  gentleman's  house,  where  I  was  to  dine  and  sleep, 
when  my  horse  cast  a  shoe,  and  forced  me  to  leave  him 
at  a  smith's  shop,  which  was  fortunately  at  hand.  The 
evening  was  chilly,  and  I  determined  to  proceed  on 
foot,  directing  my  servant  to  follow.  I  passed  a  lonely 
poteen-house — several  ruffian-looking  fellows  were  on 
the  road  beside  it.  They  were  half-drunk  and  insolent 
— I  was  rash — ^words  borrowed  blows,  and  I  soon 
discovered  that  I  should  have  the  worst  of  the  battle, 
and  was  tolerably  certain  of  a  sound  drubbing.  Sud- 
denly an  unexpected  ally  came  to  my  assistance  ;  he 
dropped  the  most  formidable  of  the  assailants  as  if  he  had 
been  struck  down  by  a  sledge-hammer.  A  few  blows 
settled  the  contest ;  and  I  turned  round  to  recognise 
and  thank  my  deliverer.  '  'Pon  my  sowl,  you're 
mighty  handy,  Master  Julius  ;  it's  a  murder  that  ye 
don't  practise  oftener  !  '  The  speaker  was  my  gifted 
friend — the  tinker." 


54  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST 


CHAPTER  IX, 


To    look    at    the    map  of    Mayo,  one  would  imagine 
that  Nature  had  designed  that  county  for  a  sportsman. 
The  westerly    part  is  wild   and  mountainous  ;    alpine 
ridges  of  highlands  interpose  between  the  ocean  and  the 
interior,  and  from  the  bases  of  these  hills  a  boundless 
tract  of  heath  and  moorland  extends  in  every  direction. 
To  the  east,  the  face  of  the  country  undergoes  a  striking 
change — large  and  extensive  plains  cover  the  surface, 
and  as  the  lands  are  generally  occupied  in  pasturage, 
and   consequently   not  sub -divided  into  the   numerous 
enclosures  which  are  requisite  in  tillage  farming,  this 
part  of  Mayo  is  justly  in  high  estimation  as  a  hunting 
country,  and  for  centuries  has  been  a  favourite  fixture 
of  the  neighbouring  fox-hunters.     The  Plains,  as  this 
sporting  district  is  usually  denominated,  afford  constant 
opportunities  for  the  horse  to    show  his  powers  and  the 
rider  his  nerve.     The  parks  are  of  immense  size  ;    the 
fences  stiff  and  safe  ;    the  surface  agreeably  undulated, 
and,  from  the  firmness  of  the  sward,  affording  superior 
galloping    ground.     One    may    occasionally    ride    over 
miles  without  being  necessitated  to  take  a  leap  ;    but 
when  one  does  meet  fences,  they  are  generally  raspers  ; 
and  if  the  scent  lies,  and  the  dogs  can  go,  nothing  but 
a  tip -top  horse,  and  a  man  "  who  takes  everything  as 
God  sends  it,"  will  hold  a  forward  place  upon  the  plains. 
The  covers  in  the  vicinity  of  the  plains  are  numerous 
and  well  supplied  with  foxes.     Of  these  animals  there 
is  no  scarcity  anywhere  in  Mayo  ;   but  in  the  mountain 
districts    there    is,    unfortunately,    a    superabundance. 


SPORTING  TOPOGRAPHY   OF   MAYO.  55 

The  herdsman  and  grouse-shooter  complain  sadly  of 
their  devastations  ;  and  notwithstanding  numbers  are 
annually  dug  out  for  hunting,  or  destroyed  by  the 
peasantry,  there  seems  to  be  an  anti-Malthusian  property 
in  the  animal,  which  enables  its  mischievous  stock, 
maugre  traps  and  persecution,  to  increase  and  multiply. 

While  the  country  is  peculiarly  adapted  for  field- 
sports,  the  extensive  lakes  and  numerous  rivers  offer 
every  inducement  to  the  angler  :  the  streams  are  plenti- 
fully stocked  with  trout,  and  the  rivers  which  commu- 
nicate with  the  sea  have  a  good  supply  of  salmon. 
Curious  varieties*  of  the  finny  tribe  are  to  be  found 
in  the  mountain  loughs  ;  and  in  those  noble  and  expan- 
sive sheets  of  water,  Lough  Con,  Lough  Mask,  and 
Lough  Corrib,  the  largest  and  finest  specimens  of  fish 
are  easily  obtained. 

We  have  just  had  a  domiciliary  visit  from  the  revenue 
police.  Under  cover  of  the  night  they  made  a  descent 
upon  our  valleys  from  their  station,  some  fifteen  miles 
off.  Excepting  causing  dire  alarm — a  general  abduc- 
tion of  stills,  worms,  and  all  the  apparatus  of  the  craft, 
and  the  concealment  of  malt,  and  the  burying  of  kegs — 
the  consequences  of  the  foray  have  not  been  important. 
One  fatal  casualty  occurred  :  a  distillery  had  finished 
its  brewing  {i.e.,  distilled  the  quantity  brewed),  and 
principals  and  accessories  were  indulging  a  little  after 
their  exertions.  Unluckily,  the  revenue  stumbled  upon 
the  convivial  meeting  ;  and  although  the  stiijj  was  gone, 
the  still,  apparatus,  and  unextinguished  fire  were  proofs 
positive  that  the  king — God  bless  him  ! — had  been  woe- 
fully defrauded.  Such  of  the  party  as  could  strike  a 
walk  escaped  without  difiiculty ;  but  two  unhappy 
*  For  example,  the  Gillaroo  and  Par. 


56  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

gentlemen  who  were  blind  drunk,  and  fast  asleep  in  all 
security  before  the  smouldering  embers  of  the  still- 
fire,  were  captured  and  conveyed  to  my  loving  cousin, 
to  undergo  the  pains  and  penalties  of  their  crime.  He, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  committed  them  to  gaol ;  and  the 
next  going  judge,  as  another  matter  of  course,  will 
discharge  them.  Meanwhile  they  are  taken  from  their 
families,  and  supported  at  the  expense  of  the  county  ; 
their  utility  is  lost  when  it  is  most  requisite,  and  they  are, 
during  the  term  of  incarceration,  a  useless  burden  upon 
the  community.  I  cannot  see  the  moral  and  legal 
expediency  of  all  this  ;  but  the  men  who  framed  the 
revenue  laws  were  probably  more  clear-sighted  than  I 
am. 

When  I  first  observed  a  score  of  banditti  in  blue 
jackets  and  white  cross-belts  arranged  before  the  Lodge, 
I  felt  particularly  nervous  ;  and  old  John,  my  refuge 
in  perplexity,  was  immediately  consulted.  "  John," 
said  I,  in  a  masonic  whisper,  "  are  we  safe  ?  " — **  Safe  : 
from  what,  Sir  ?  "— "  The  ganger."— "  Lord,  Sir, 
he  dines  with  us." — "  But — but  is  there  any  stuff  about 
the  house  ?  " — "  Any  !  God  alone  can  tell  how  much 
there  is  above  and  under."  "  If  any  body  told  the 
ganger,  John — !  "  '*  They  would  only  tell  him  what  he 
knows  already.  The  ganger  : — ^Lord  bless  you.  Sir, 
he  never  comes  or  goes  without  leaving  a  keg  or  two 
behind  him.  If  the  master  and  he  did  not  pull  together 
what  the  devil  business  would  he  have  here  }  Don't 
mind,  Sir ;  we  know  what  we  are  about :  Tiggum 
Tigue  Thigien .'  "* 

Midnight.  I  hope  the  weather  has  settled  :  the  moon 
looks  well,  and,  as  John  avers,  the  sun  set  favourably 

*  An  Irish  proverb,  literally  meaning    "Tim  tmderstands  Teady." 


SPORTING  TOPOGRAPHY  OF   MAYO.  57 

There  is,  however,  one  solitary  scintillating  star  ;— one  ! 
there  are  two.  Confound  the  poteen  !  it  is  the  queerest, 
pleasantest,  out-o*-the-way  drink  imaginable  ! — and  the 
ganger  told  such  odd  stories,  and  sang  such  extraor- 
dinary songs  1  the  sooner  I  am  in  bed  the  better  ! 
What  a  field  the  Temperance  Society  would  have  here 
for  their  exertions  !  Well,  if  I  rise  without  a  headache, 
I'll  immortalise  the  man  who  first  invented  distillation. 

We  start  under  favourable  auspices  ;  a  sweet,  steady 
westerly  wind  is  blowing,  clouds  and  sunshine  alternately 
prevail,  the  river  should  be  in  good  order,  and  we 
anticipate  that  this  will  be  a  killing  day. 

We  have  determined  to  fish  the  sister  stream  ;  the 
waters  of  Goolamore  unite  in  the  same  estuary  with 
those  of  our  own  river,  and  yet  the  fish  vary  with  regard 
to  season  as  much  as  if  they  inhabited  waters  a  thousand 
miles  apart.  In  Goolamore  throughout  the  whole 
year,  white*  salmon  are  found  in  high  condition  ;  in 
Aughniss,  from  October  till  April,  the  fish  are  red, 
spent,  and  worthless.  In  size,  in  character,  the  streams 
are  much  alike  :  they  unite  in  their  debouchement 
in  the  sea,  and  flow,  but  a  few  miles  asunder,  through 
a  flat  and  moory  country.  That  the  fish  of  these  sister 
streams  should  differ  so  much  is  surprising,  and  can 
only  be  attributed  to  one  circumstance  :  Aughniss  is 
a  union  of  mountain  streams,  Goolamore  flows  from  an 
extensive  lake,  and  affords  an  outlet  to  the  waters  of 
Carramore.  Judging,  therefore,  from  the  constant 
supply  of  white  fish  which  Goolamore  yields  all  through 

*  By  the  simple  appellation  of  white  and  red  fish,  the  peasantry- 
distinguish  Salmon  when  in  and  out  of  season.  Indeed,  the  colour 
is  such  a  perfect  indicative  of  health  and  disease,  that  any  person 
who  has  frequented  a  salmon  river  will,  on  seeing  a  fish  rise,  be  enabled 
to  tell  with  accuracy  the  state  of  his  condition. 


58  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

the  year,  one  would  conclude  that  the  lake  offers  better 
food  and  winterage  to  the  salmon  than  the  shallower 
and  colder  waters  of  Aughniss. 

Our  expectations  were  fully  realised,  and  we  found 

the  pools  in  excellent  order.     Independently  of  a  west 

wind  being  a  favourite  point  for  the  angler — ^in  these 

rivers  it  blows  against  the  current  of  the  stream,  and 

consequently  increases  the  ruffle  on  the  surface  of  the 

water,  which  in  salmon  fishing  is  so  favourable.     My 

cousin,  who  is  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  local  haunts 

of  the  salmon,  placed  me  where  I  seldom  failed  to  rise 

or  hook  a  fish.     What  splendid  angling  this  wild  country 

offers  !     It  spoils  one  in  after  Hfe,  however.     The  man 

who  has  held  a  salmon  on  his  line  disrelishes  the  inferior 

amusements  of  the  craft ;    the  fox-hunter  will  seldom 

condescend  to   ride  to  beagles  ;    the   deer-stalker   will 

not  waste  time  and  powder  in  a  rabbit-warren  ;   and  the 

disciple  of  Izaac  who  has  once  indulged  in  the  exquisite 

delight   of    salmon   fishing   will   feel   little   satisfaction 

in  the  commoner  pursuits  and  lesser  pleasures  of  the 

gentle  art. 

We  landed  five  salmon,  besides  taking  a  pannier  full 
of  sea-trout.  Had  I  been  an  adept,  or  better  appointed 
than  I  was,  we  might  have  killed  double  the  number 
of  salmon.  My  flies  were  unluckily  tied  on  London 
hooks,  and  from  their  defective  quality  and  formation- 
several  fish  escaped  me.  Repeated  failures  caused  me 
to  examine  the  hooks,  and  I  ascertained  that  they  were 
both  ill-shapen  and  badly  tempered.  My  cousin  had 
warned  me  against  the  consequences  of  using  them, 
but  I  believed  that  he  was  prejudiced,  and  concluded 
that  this  department  of  my  London  outfit  must  be 
unobjectionable.     The   event,  however,   proved  that   I 


SPORTING  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  MAYO.  59 

was  deceived.  My  kinsman  rarely  lost  a  salmon,  and 
mine  broke  from  me  continually.  I  find  by  sad  experi- 
ence that  in  hook-making  the  Irish  are  far  before  us  ; 
our  workmen  either  do  not  understand  the  method 
of  forming  and  tempering  hooks,  or  they  do  not  take 
sufficient  pains  in  their  manufactory.  It  is  strange 
when  so  much  of  the  angler's  pleasure  and  success 
depends  upon  the  quality  of  his  hooks,  that  more 
attention  is  not  bestowed  upon  their  fabrication.  The 
art  of  forming  and  the  process  of  tempering  them 
appears  simple  enough  ;  and  that  little  difficulty  is 
required  to  attain  it  is  evident  from  the  fact,  that  many 
fishermen  make  their  own  hooks.  For  my  own  part, 
however,  I  consider  hook-making  to  be  an  unnecessary 
accomplishment  for  the  angler,  as  the  best  hooks  in  the 
world  can  be  procured  without  trouble,  and  at  a  trifling 
expense,  from  O'Shaughnessy  of  Limerick. 


60  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 


CHAPTER  X. 

To  those  unacquainted  with  the  method  of  taking 
salmon,  a  brief  detail  may  not  be  uninteresting  :  pre- 
mising that  in  other  fisheries  different  means  are 
employed,  yet  the  simplest  and  general  method  is  that 
used  at  Aughniss. 

About  March  fly-fishing  commences,  and  a  strong 
and  active  spring  fish  will  then  frequently  be  killed, 
if  the  river  is  sufficiently  supplied  with  water,  and  the 
wind  brisk  and  westerly.  As  the  season  advances  the 
fishing  materially  improves  ;  and  from  the  month  of 
April,  salmon,  in  the  highest  condition,  with  red  and 
white  trout,  will  rise  here  freely  at  the  fly. 

In  June,  however,  the  regular  fishing  with  nets 
commences,  and  then  the  wear  is  raised  to  stop  the 
passage  of  the  fish,  and  the  river  water  vented  through 
a  small  aperture  provided  with  a  trap,  or  as  it  is  techni- 
cally called,  a  box.  By  these  traps  and  artificial  canals, 
in  other  fisheries  the  salmon  are  principally  taken  ;  but 
here,  except  some  straggling  fish,  the  box  produces 
little. 

The  fishing  is  confined  to  the  estuary,  where  the  river- 
meets  the  sea.  Here,  according  to  naturalists,  the 
salmon  undergo  a  probationary  course  before  they 
exchange  the  salt  for  the  fresh  water,  as  a  sudden  change 
from  either  would  be  fatal  to  the  fish,  and  a  temporary 
sojourn  in  water  of  an  intermediate  quality  (brackish) 
is  supposed  to  be  requisite  before  they  can  leave  either 
the  ocean  or  the  river. 


SALMON  FISHING  DESCRIBED.  6 1 

The  draughting  is  carried  on  at  the  last  quarter  of 
the  ebb,  and  during  the  first  of  flood — five  or  six  boats, 
with  as  many  men  in  each,  are  necessary.  When  the 
salmon  are  seen,  the  nearest  boat  starts  off,  leaving  a  man 
on  shore,  with  a  rope  attached  to  one  extremity  of  the 
net,  which  is  rapidly  thrown  over,  as  the  boat  makes  an 
extensive  circle  round  the  place  where  the  fish  is  sup- 
posed to  lie.  Returning  to  the  shore,  the  curve  of  the 
net  is  gradually  decreased.  Stones  are  flung  in  at  each 
extremity,  to  prevent  the  salmon  from  escaping  ;  the 
net  reaches  the  bank,  the  semi-circle  is  complete,  and 
all  within  effectually  secured.  The  fish  are  then  care- 
fully landed,  and  at  a  single  draught  five  hundred  salmon 
have  been  taken.  This  is,  however,  an  event  of  rare 
occurrence,  and  unless  the  net  were  powerfully  strong, 
and  the  fishers  skilful,  a  fracture,  and  consequently 
a  general  escape,  would  be  inevitable. 

The  fishing  here  is  exceedingly  precarious.  If  the 
season  be  favourable  from  the  ist  of  July  to  the  12th 
of  August,  the  daily  average  would  be  probably  five 
hundred  salmon,  exclusive  of  an  immense  quantity  of 
white  trout.  But  success  depends  entirely  upon  the 
weather.  Should  the  season  prove  rainy  or  tem- 
pestuous, the  salmon  directly  leave  the  estuary,  and 
remain  at  sea  until  the  water  clears  and  the  storm  abates  ; 
and  the  time  allowed  by  law  often  expires  before  a 
moiety  of  the  fish  can  be  secured. 

It  is  extraordhiary  how  much  the  flavour  and  quality 
of  the  salmon  depend  on  circumstances  apparently 
of  trifling  moment.  A  single  day  in  the  river  will 
injure  and  a  flood  spoil  their  condition  ;  and  the 
difference  between  a  fish  taken  in  the  nets  and  one 
killed  with  the  rod  will  be  easily  perceptible. 


62  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

Although  in  this  water  angling  may  be  considered 
as  ending  in  September,  yet,  through  the  succeeding 
months  till  spring,  the  fish  rise  freely  at  a  fly.  But  the 
sport  is  very  indifferent  compared  with  summer  angling  ; 
the  salmon  now  has  lost  his  energy ;  he  struggles 
laboriously  to  get  away,  but  his  play  is  different  from 
the  gallant  resistance  he  would  have  offered  had  you 
hooked  him  in  July.  I  have  landed  and  turned  out 
again  as  many  as  nine  salmon  in  one  day,  and  their 
united  exertions  did  not  afford  me  half  the  amusement 
I  have  received  from  the  conquest  of  one  sprightly 
summer  fish.  Salmon  appear  to  lose  beauty  and  energy 
together.  They  are  now  reddish,  dull,  dark-spotted, 
perch-coloured  fish,  and  seem  a  different  species  from 
the  sparkling  silvery  creature  we  saw  them  when  they 
first  left  the  sea.  As  an  esculent,  they  are  utterly 
worthless — soft,  flabby  and  flavourless,  if  brought  to 
table ;  and,  instead  of  the  delicate  pink  hue  they 
exhibited  when  in  condition,  they  present  a  sickly, 
unhealthy,  white  appearance,  that  betrays  how  complete 
the  change  is  that  they  have  recently  undergone. 

And  yet  at  this  period  they  suffer  mostly  from  night- 
fishers.  This  species  of  poaching*  is  as  difficult  to 
detect  as  it  is  ruinous  in  its  consequences.  It  is  believed 
that  the  destruction  of  a  few  breeding  fish  may  cost  the 
proprietor  one  thousand  ;  such  being  the  astonishing 
fecundity  of  the  pregnant  salmon  ! 

Night  fishing  is  carried  on  when  the  river  is  low, 
and  the  night  moonless.     The  poacher,  with  a  gaff  and 

*  "  When  I  made  the  tour  of  that  hospitable  kingdom  in  1754,  it 
(the  Coleraine  fishery)  was  rented  by  a  neighbouring  gentleman  for 
£620  a  year,  who  assured  me  that  the  tenant,  his  predecessor,  gave 
for  it  £1,600  per  annum — and  that  he  was  a  greater  gainer  by  the 
bargain,  on  account  of  the  number  of  poachers  who  destroy  the  fish 
during  the  fence  month." — Pennant. 


SALMON   FISHING  DESCRIBED.  63 

torch,  selects  some  gravelly  ford — for  there,  by  a  law 
of  nature,  the  salmon  resort  to  form  beds  in  the  stream, 
wherein  to  deposit  their  ova  ;  and  they  continue  working 
on  the  sand,  until  they  are  discovered  by  the  torch- 
light, and  gaffed  by  the  plunderer.  Hundreds  of  the 
breeding  fish  are  annually  thus  destroyed  ;  and  although 
the  greater  fisheries  may  be  tolerably  protected,  it  is 
impossible  to  secure  the  mountain  streams  from  depre- 
dation. If  detected,  the  legal  penalty  upon  poaching 
is  trifling  ;  and,  as  appeals  on  very  frivolous  grounds 
are  allowed  from  the  summary  convictions  of  magis- 
trates, it  too  frequently  happens  that  delinquents  evade 
the  punitory  consequences  attendant  on  discovery. 

Here,  too,  the  evils  of  private  distillation  may  be 
traced  ;  for  most  of  the  depredations  committed  upon 
the  salmon  are  effected  by  persons  concerned  in  this 
demoralising  trade.  They  are  up  all  night  attending 
to  the  still.  The  watch  kept  against  the  revenue  police 
enables  them  to  ascertain  when  the  bargers  are  away, 
and  the  river  consequently  unguarded.  A  light  is 
snatched  from  the  still-fire,  the  hidden  fish-spear 
speedily  produced,  and  in  a  very  short  space  of  time 
an  infinite  deal  of  mischief  is  perpetrated. 

I  should  be  inclined  to  question  the  accuracy  of 
weight  which  Sir  Humphry  gives  his  salmon.  Fish 
of  the  sizes  he  describes  are  rarely  met  with  here,  and 
out  of  one  thousand  taken  in  the  nets,  there  will  not  be 
ten  fish  of  twenty-five  pounds  weight. 

The  average  size  is  from  seven  to  fifteen  pounds. 
Within  thirty  years  but  one  monster  has  been  taken  ; 
he  weighed  fifty-six  pounds.  Four  years  ago  one  of 
forty-eight  pounds  was  caught  :  but  of  the  thousands 
which  I  have  seen  taken,  I  would  say  I  never  saw    a 


64  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

fish  weighing  more  than  thirty-five  pounds,  and  not 
many  reaching  even  to  twenty-five  pounds. 

The  Priest,  my  neighbour,  who  Uves  on  the  banks 
of  Goolamore,  told  me  he  once  killed  a  salmon  of 
twenty-seven  pounds  weight,  and  that  the  feat  gave  him 
an  infinity  of  trouble,  and  occupied  three  mortal  hours. 
The  Priest  fishes  with  tackle  of  amazing  strength,  and 
is  one  of  the  best  practical  anglers  I  have  ever  met  with. 
Sir  Humphry  Davy  mentions  salmon  of  twenty-five 
and  thirty  pounds  as  being  commonly  taken  with  a  fly. 
The  largest  I  ever  killed  was  eighteen  pounds  four  ounces, 
and  it  gave  me  abundant  exercise  for  an  hour.  Either 
Sir  Humphry  overrates  the  weight  of  Scottish  salmon, 
or  in  the  rivers  he  frequented  they  must  be  immensely 
superior  to  those  found  in  the  Irish  waters.  In  the 
Shannon,  I  believe,  the  largest  fish  are  found,  and  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  even  there  the  capture  of  salmon 
of  this  unusual  magnitude  is  an  event  of  very  rare 
occurrence. 

Pennant  states  "  that  the  largest  salmon  ever  known 
weighed  seventy-four  pounds.  In  September,  1795, 
one  measuring  upwards  of  four  feet  from  nose  to  tail, 
and  three  in  circumference,  weighing  within  a  few 
ounces  of  seventy  pounds,  was  sold  at  Billingsgate,  and 
was  the  largest  ever  brought  there.  The  Severn  salmon 
are  much  inferior  as  to  their  bulk,  for  one  taken  near 
Shrewsbury,  in  1757,  weighing  only  thirty-seven  pounds, 
is  recorded  in  the  British  Chronologist  as  exceeding 
in  length  any  ever  known  to  be  taken  in  that  river,  and 
being  the  heaviest  except  one  ever  remembered  in  that 
town.  They  have,  in  many  parts,  been  caught  by 
angling,  with  an  artificial  fly  and  other  baits,  upwards 
of  forty  pounds  in  weight/' 


SALMON    FISHING    DESCRIBED.  65 

Passing  Grove's  shop  in  Bond  Street  about  a  month 
agol  remarked  an  immense  fish  extended  in  the  window  ; 
I  stopped  to  inquire  what  its  weight  might  be,  and  was 
informed  that  it  weighed  forty-five  pounds.  It  had 
been  a  Uttle  too  long  on  its  passage  from  Scotland, 
and  I  should  be  inclined  to  say  that  at  best,  it  was  a 
coarse-flavoured  fish,  but  in  its  present  state,  a  most 
indifferent  one. 

The  migratory  habits  of  the  salmon,  and  the  instinct 
with  which  it  periodically  revisits  its  native  river,  are 
curious  circumstances  in  the  natural  history  of  this  fish. 
As  the  swallow  returns  annually  to  its  nest,  as  certainly 
the  salmon  repairs  to  the  same  spot  in  which  to  deposit 
its  ova.  Many  interesting  experiments  have  estab- 
lished this  fact.  M.  de  Lalande  fastened  a  copper  ring 
round  a  salmon's  tail,  and  found  that  for  three  successive 
seasons  it  returned  to  the  same  place.  Dr.  Bloch  states, 
that  gold  and  silver  rings  have  been  attached,  by  Eastern 
princes  to  salmon,  to  prove  that  a  communication 
existed  between  the  Persian  Gulf  and  the  Caspian  and 
Northern  seas,  and  that  the  experiment  succeeded. 
Shaw,  in  his  Zoology,  mentions  that  a  salmon  of  seven 
pounds  and  three-quarters  was  marked  with  scissors 
on  the  back,  fin,  and  tail,  and  turned  out  on  the  7th  of 
February,  and  that  it  was  retaken  in  March  of  the 
succeeding  year,  and  found  to  have  increased  to  the 
amazing  size  of  seventeen  pounds  and  a  half.  This 
statement,  by  the  by,  is  at  variance  with  the  theory 
of  Dr.  Bloch,  who  estimates  the  weight  of  a  five  or  six 
year  old  salmon  at  but  ten  or  twelve  pounds. 

That  the  salmon  should  lose  condition  rapidly  on 
quitting  the  sea  for  the  fresh  water,  may  be  inferred 
from  a  fact  agreed  upon  by  naturalists,  that  during  the 

F 


66  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

period  of  spawning,  the  fish  neglects  feeding.  In  this 
peculiar  habit  the  salmon,  however,  is  not  singular, 
for  animals  of  the  Phocae  tribe,  in  breeding- time  exercise 
a  similar  abstinence.  On  opening  a  salmon,  at  any 
season,  no  food  will  be  discovered,  and  the  contents 
of  the  stomach  will  be  confined  to  a  small  quantity  of 
yellowish  fluid  and  tape- worms,  which  are  generated 
there.  Sir  Humphry  Davy  believes  that  occasionally 
food  may  be  found.  I  have  seen  thousands  opened 
preparatory  to  being  salted,  and  I  never  observed 
anything  but  this  fluid  and  tape-worms.  Another 
circumstance  may  be  stated  as  a  curious  proof  of  health, 
as  well  as  of  the  period  of  time  the  salmon  has  been 
resident  in  a  river.  When  the  fish  leaves  the  sea,  and 
of  course  is  in  its  best  condition,  insects  (the  Lernaeae 
Salmoneae  of  Linnaeus)  will  be  perceived  firmly  adhering 
to  the  skin.  Immediately  on  entering  the  fresh  water, 
these  insects  begin  to  detach  themselves  from  the  salmon, 
and  after  a  short  time  they  gradually  drop  off  and 
disappear. 


PREPARATIONS    FOR   MULLET-FISHING.  67 


CHAPTER  XL 

Early  this  morning  we  received  intelligence  that  a 
school  of  mullet  had  been  seen  on  the  preceding  evening, 
working  in  a  sandy  bay  some  six  miles  distant  from  the 
Lodge — and  as  we  determined  to  devote  the  day  to 
fishing,  the  household  were  soon  up  on  the  alert,  and  a 
galley  and  row-boat  were  laden  with  nets,  poles  and 
spars  ;  half-a-dozen  rifles  and  muskets  put  on  board,  and 
a  stout  and  numerous  crew,  we  started  for  the  scene  of 
action. 

It  was  a  bright  and  cheerful  day  ;  the  sun  sparkled 
on  the  blue  water,  which,  unruffled  by  a  breeze,  rose  and 
fell  in  the  long  and  gentle  undulations  which  roll  in  from 
the  westward  when  the  Atlantic  is  at  rest.  While 
pulling  to  the  cove,  we  amused  ourselves  in  shooting 
puffins  as  they  passed  us,  or  trying  our  rifles  at  a  distant 
seal,  while  my  kinsman's  anecdotes  whiled  away  the 
tedium  of  the  voyage. 

*'  Seals  are  very  numerous  on  the  coast,  and  at  this 
season  a  number  may  be  seen  any  warm  day  you  make  lan 
excursion  up  the  Sound  of  Achil.  We  shoot  them 
occasionally — the  skin  makes  a  waterproof  covering, 
and  the  fat  affords  an  excellent  oil  for  many  domestic 
purposes.  It  is  difficult,  however,  to  secure  the  animal, 
for  numbers  are  shot  and  few  gotten.  The  head  is  the 
only  place  to  strike  them,  for  even  when  mortally 
wounded  in  the  body,  they  generally  manage  to  escape. 
This  fact  we  have  ascertained,  from  finding  them  dead 
on  shore  many  days  after  they  were  wounded,  and  at  a 
considerable  distance  from  the  place  where  they  had 


68  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

received  the  bullet.  I  shot  one  last  autumn  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  and  a  fortnight  afterwards  he  was 
taken  up  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Dhuhill.  There 
could  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  identity  of  the  creature, 
for  on  opening  him  to  extract  the  oil,  a  rifle  ball,  such  as 
I  use,  of  the  unusually  small  size  of  fifty-four  to  the 
pound,  was  found  lodged  in  his  lungs.  Unless  when 
killed  outright,  they  sink  instantly  ;  and  I  have  seen  the 
sea  dyed  with  blood,  to  an  extent  that  proved  how 
severely  the  seal  had  been  wounded,  but  have  never 
been  able  to  trace  him  further. 

**  Formerly,  when  seal  oil  and  skins  were  valuable, 
some  persons  on  the  coast  made  the  pursuit  of  the 
animal  a  profession.  There  is  one  of  these  persons 
living  near  the  Sound,  a  miserable,  dwarfish,  red-bearded 
wretch,  whom  you  would  consider  hardly  equal  to 
grapple  with  a  salmon,  and  yet  he  secures  more  seals 
than  any  hunter  in  the  district.  His  method  of  effecting 
it  is  singular  :  he  uses  neither  gun  nor  spear,  but  kills 
the  animal  with  a  short  bludgeon  loaded  at  the  end 
with  lead. 

**  Adjacent  to  the  seal-killer's  residence  there  is  a 
large  rock  uncovered  at  half -tide,  and  this  appears  the 
most  favourite  haunt  for  the  animal  to  bask  upon.  The 
rock  is  easily  approached  from  the  main-land,  and  on  a 
sunny  day,  when  the  wind  favours  the  attempt,  the 
hunter,  undressed,  and  armed  with  his  bludgeon, 
silently  winds  among  the  stones,  and  steals  upon  his 
sleeping  prey.  Wary  as  the  creature  is,  the  Red  Dwarf 
seldom  fails  in  surprising  him,  and  with  astonishing 
expertness,  generally  dispatches  him  with  a  single  blow. 

*'  The  number  he  kills  annually  proves  his  extra- 
ordinary success.     If  the  first  blow  fails,  an  event  that 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   MULLET-FISHING.  69 

seldom  happens,  the  dwarf  is  in  considerable  danger. 
When  attacked,  and  especially  at  such  a  distance  from  the 
water  as  renders  his  escape  doubtful,  the  seal  will  turn 
with  amazing  ferocity  on  the  assailant.  If  it  be  an  old 
one,  in  case  his  first  essay  is  unsuccessful,  the  dwarf 
declines  the  combat  and  flies  from  his  irritated  enemy  ; 
but  the  cubs  are  taken  without  much  difficulty. 

"  Last  summer  I  was  witness  to  a  curious  scene. 
Running  through  the  Sound  of  Achil  in  my  hooker, 
at  a  short  distance  to  leeward  I  observed  several  men, 
who  appeared  to  be  practising  a  quadrille  over  the 
thafts  and  gunnels  of  a  row-boat,  as  they  never  rested 
for  a  moment,  but  continued  jumping  from  stem  to 
stern,  and  springing  from  bench  to  bench.  Struck 
by  the  oddity  of  their  proceedings,  I  eased  away  the 
sheets  and  ran  down  upon  them — and  I  was  a  welcome 
ally,  as  the  result  proved.  It  turned  out,  that  having 
espied  a  seal  and  her  cub  sleeping  on  the  sand,  they  had 
procured  an  old  musket  and  rowed  over  to  attack  them. 
They  were  partially  successful  and  seized  the  cub 
before  it  could  regain  its  native  element,  although  the 
dam  rendered  all  assistance  possible  to  relieve  the  young 
one.  Having  placed  their  prize  in  the  boat,  they  were 
returning,  followed  by  the  old  seal,  who  kept  rising 
beside  them,  attracted  by  the  cries  of  the  cub — ^till  after 
many  bootless  attempts,  their  gun  at  last  exploded,  the 
ball  entered  the  seal's  head,  and  for  a  moment  she 
appeared  dying.  The  captors,  seizing  her  by  the  tail 
and  fins,  with  an  united  exertion,  dragged  her  into  the 
boat — but  this  exploit  had  nearly  ended  in  a  tragedy. 
Stunned  only  by  the  wound,  the  animal  instantly 
recovered,  and,  irritated  by  pain  and  maddened  by  the 
cries  of  her  cub,  attacked  her  captors  fiercely.     Every 


70  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

exertion  they  could  make  was  necessary  to  save  them 
from  her  tusks,  and  their  oars  were  too  long  and  clumsy 
to  enable  them  to  strike  her  with  effect.  I  came  most 
opportunely  to  the  rescue,  and  by  driving  a  carbine 
bullet  through  the  seal's  brain  brought  the  battle  to  a 
close.  Never  was  the  old  saw  of  '  catching  a  Tartar' 
more  thoroughly  exemplified  ;  and  though  we  laughed 
at  their  terror-stricken  countenances,  the  deep  incisions 
made  in  the  oars  and  gunnels  by  the  tusks  of  the  enraged 
animal,  showed  that  gallopading  with  an  angry  seal  is 
anything  but  pleasure." 

Although  the  mullet  are  generally  first  seen  here,  in 
the  month  of  June,  from  the  wetness  of  this  summer  the 
shoals  are  later  in  their  appearance  than  usual.  Mullet 
are  taken  in  draught-nets  like  salmon,  but  on  this  coast 
a  different  mode  of  fishing  is  pursued.  The  shoals  in 
hot  weather  run  in  with  the  tide,  and  after  remaining 
on  the  shores  and  estuaries  during  flood,  they  return 
with  the  ebbing  water.  The  following  method  we 
employed  in  our  fishing  to-day  : — Being  provided 
with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  herring-nets  and  a  number 
of  spars  and  poles,  we  selected  at  low  water  a  sandy 
creek  for  our  operations,  and  commenced  erecting  a 
line  of  poles  across  the  entrance  of  the  cove.  The 
nets  were  then  extended  along  these  uprights,  and  also 
secured  firmly  to  the  bottom  of  the  spars  ;  the  lower 
part  of  the  net  is  kept  upon  the  bottom  by  a  row  of 
stones,  and  the  remainder  laid  flat  upon  the  sands. 
Wth  the  flowing  tide  the  fish  pass  over  the  prostrate 
net,  and  run  along  the  estuary  :  at  high  water  the  buoy 
ropes  are  raised  and  secured  to  the  upright  poles — and 
with  the  assistance  of  a  boat  the  whole  is  effected  in 
a  few  minutes,  and  a  net- work  barrier  effectually  cuts 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   MULLET-FISHING.  71 

off  the  retreat  of  all  within.  When  the  ebb  of  tide 
commences  the  mullet  begin  to  retire,  and  when  they 
discover  that  their  egress  is  obstructed,  their  attempts 
to  effect  a  passage  are  both  constant  and  curious — now 
running  down  the  nets,  trying  for  a  broken  mesh  by  which 
to  force  an  aperture — now  with  a  bold  spring  endea- 
vouring to  clear  the  buoy-ropes,  and  even  after  repeated 
failures,  leaping  at  it  again  and  again.  The  last  effort 
is  directed  to  the  bottom  ;  but  there  the  heavy  stones 
resist  every  attempt  to  dislodge  them,  and,  deserted  by 
the  treacherous  water,  the  mullet  are  left  upon  the 
bare  sands. 

As  hours  must  elapse  from  the  time  the  nets  are  laid 
down  until  the  fish  can  be  secured,  I  left  my  kinsman 
who  officiated  as  chief  engineer.  Having  brought  two 
brace  of  greyhounds  with  us,  I  set  out  to  course,  under 
the  guidance  of  a  man  who  joined  my  cousin  on  the 
Island. 

There  was  a  striking  air  about  the  stranger,  joined 
to  his  wild  and  haggard  look,  that  at  once  rivetted  my 
attention.  His  clothes  were  much  better  than  those 
of  any  of  the  peasantry  I  had  yet  seen,  and  in  address 
and  manner  he  was  far  superior  to  the  rest  of  my  cousin's 
retainers.  He  was  not  above  five-and-twenty,  his 
figure  tall,  gaunt,  sinewy,  and  almost  fleshless — but 
his  square  shoulders  and  well-knit  joints  proved  him 
to  be  a  powerful  and  active  man.  I  shall  never  forget 
the  singular  expression  of  his  countenance.  It  was 
settled  sorrow  bordering  on  despair  ;  the  hollow  cheek, 
the  sunken,  rayless  eye,  the  wandering  and  suspicious 
glance  around  him,  all  showed  a  mind  fevered  with 
apprehension  and  harrowed  by  remorse.  He  shunned 
observation,  and  if  my  eye  met  his  by  accident,  he 


72 


WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 


instantly  looked  another  way.  He  was  armed  with  a 
new  carbine  ;  and  his  whole  bearing  and  appearance 
were  so  singular  and  alarming,  that  more  than  once 
I  wished  my  kinsman  had  allotted  me  some  other  guide. 

My  companion  was,  however,  shrewd  and  intelligent 
— and  he  appeared  fond  of  field  sports,  and  perfectly 
conversant  with  the  arcana  of  shooting  and  coursing. 
He  enumerated  with  the  science  of  a  connoisseur  the 
points,  and  praised  the  beauty  of  a  pair  of  English 
dogs  I  had  brought  with  me  ;  but  told  me  "  the  master's 
(my  kinsman's  usual  title)  would  outrun  them  here.'* 
I  differed  with  him  in  opinion.  Mine  were  of  distin- 
guished breeding,  the  produce  of  a  S  waff  ham  sire, 
and  compared  with  my  cousin's,  appeared  descended 
from  a  giant  stock.  His,  certainly,  were  beautiful 
diminutives  ;  but,  as  I  conceived,  very  unequal  to 
compete  with  animals  of  such  superior  strength  and  size 
as  mine — yet  the  result  proved  how  correctly  my  wild 
companion  judged. 

Our  first  start  was  on  hard,  firm  ground — and  here 
my  dog's  outstripped  my  kinsman's,  although  they 
displayed  uncommon  fleetness.  Being  hard  pressed, 
puss  crossed  a  morass  and  ran  into  an  unsound  bog. 
Then  were  my  guide's  predictions  verified.  From  their 
own  weight,  my  dogs  sank  and  floundered  in  the  swamp  ; 
while  my  cousin's,  topping  the  surface  with  apparent 
ease,  turned  and  killed  the  hare,  while  their  larger 
companions  were  struggling  through  the  mire. 

On  the  second  start  puss  left  the  moor,  and  took  to  the 
seashore,  always  a  favourite  run  of  island  hares. 
Rushing  headlong  through  rocks,  and  running  over 
pointed  pebbles  the  English  dogs  were  speedily  disabled. 
But  my  cousin's,  accustomed  to  the  beach,  ran  with 


PREPARATIONS    FOR    MULLET-FISHING.  73 

caution  till  they  cleared  the  rocks,  then,  taking  advantage 
of  the  open  strand,  killed  without  a  scratch,  while  my 
unpractised  dogs  were  rendered  unserviceable  for  a 
fortnight. 

Generally  speaking,  the  large  and  high-bred  English 
greyhound  is  not  adapted  for  Irish  coursing.  There 
he  will  encounter  a  soft  and  difficult  surface,  instead  of 
the  fine  firm  downs  he  has  been  accustomed  to  in  his 
native  country.  And  any  plains  on  which  he  could 
exert  his  powers  and  prove  his  superiority,  are,  with 
few  exceptions,  in  the  possession  of  some  pack,  and,  of 
course,  preserved  as  hunting-grounds,  and  grey-hounds 
are  rigidly  prohibited. 

On  returning  to  the  estuary  where  I  had  left  the 
fishing-party,  I  found  the  tide  had  fallen,  and  in  a  little 
time  we  were  enabled  to  secure  the  spoil.  We  had 
enclosed  upwards  of  a  hundred  mullets,  weighing  from 
four  to  ten  pounds  each.  While  embarking  our  nets 
and  poles  I  observed  several  boats  filled  with  men  row 
towards  us  from  a  distance  ;  and,  after  a  short  recon- 
naissance, return  to  the  place  from  whence  they  came. 
The  evening  breeze  blew  fresh,  and  in  our  favour  ; 
the  boatmen  hoisted  a  large,  square  sail ;  my  kinsman 
took  the  tiller,  and  with  wind  and  tide  along  with  us, 
in  an  hour  we  crossed  the  bay  and  reached  our  desti- 
nation, accompanied  by  the  tall,  melancholy-looking 
man,  who  had  been  my  companion  in  the  island. 

We  dined  sumptuously.  The  flavour  of  a  mullet, 
fresh  from  the  water,  neither  injured  by  land-carriage 
nor  spoiled  by  exposure  to  the  sun,  is  exquisite.  I 
mentioned  casually,  the  noble  addition  which  this 
delicious  fish  must  give  to  my  cousin's  cuisine.  **  And 
they  are  so  abundant,  that  I  presume  you  seldom  want 


74  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

them  ?  "  "  The  contrary  is  the  case,"  he  replied ; 
"  a  remnant  of  barbarous  usage  prevents  this  wild 
population  from  benefitting  by  the  ample  supply  which 
Providence  sends  to  the  shores.  Did  you  remark 
several  boats  approach  and  reconnoitre  us  ?  " 
**  Yes,  and  what  of  it  ?  " 

''  Nothing  more  than  that  they  came  with  the  laudable 
design  of  relieving  us  of  the  produce  of  our  fishery. 
The  natives  believe  that  there  is  a  prescriptive  right 
to  rob  mullet-nets  ;    and  in  consequence,  none  will  be 
at  the  trouble  of  laying  them  down,  if  they  have  not 
a  sufficient  party  to  protect  the  fish  when  taken.     You 
remarked     the      formidable      preparations      made    this 
morning ;    they   were   requisite,    I   assure   you,   or  we 
should  have  returned  home  as  lightly  laden  as  we  left 
it.     Those  people   are  not  upon  my  territory,   and   I 
am   on   bad   terms   with  their   landlord.     They  would 
spoil  me  of  fish  without  ceremony,  and  think  them- 
selves too  indulgent  in  permitting  me  and  my  depen- 
dents   to    return    with    undamaged    heads.     Last    year 
they  robbed  and  beat  my  boatmen  cruelly — and  on  the 
next  occasion  of  a  mullet  chasse,  I  went  in  person.    They 
soon  discovered  us,  and  with  three  boats  full  of  men 
came  to  despoil  us.     I  warned  them  off — but  they  were 
resolutely  bent  on  mischief.     Finding  them  determined, 
I  let  the  leading  boat  approach  within  forty  yards,  and 
having  them  well  under  my  fire,  threw  in  two  barrels 
loaded  with  B .  B .  shot .    The  effect  was  decisive ,  for  out  of  a 
dozen  marauders  who  formed  the  crew,  not  one  escaped 
without  receiving  a  fair  proportion  of  the  charge.     They 
put    about    instantly,    and    for    a    fortnight   afterwards, 
a  country  quack  had  full  employment  in  extracting  my 
double  B.     I  sent  a  message  to  their  master,  for  which 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   MULLET-FISHING.  75 

he  Benched  me  ;  and  it  cost  me  a  cool  hundred  before 
I  got  clear  of  the  Honourable  Justices.  '  A  plague 
upon  all  cowards  !  '  as  honest  Jack  says." 

"  But,  Julius,  who  was  that  wild  and  melancholy 
man  to  whose  guidance  you  entrusted  me  in  the  island  }  '* 

"  Oh,  Hennessey,  my  foster-brother  !  Poor  fellow, 
he  has  been  rather  unlucky  !  " 

"  Unlucky  ?  " 

"  Why,  yes — ^he  hit  a  fellow  a  little  too  hard,  and 
finished  him.  He  is  keeping  close  until  the  assizes  are 
over,  and  then  he  will  have  time  to  settle  with  the 
friends.  It  would  not  signify  a  farthing,  had  he  not 
been  in  two  or  three  scrapes  before." 

"  Has  he  been  always  riotous  ?  " 

"Oh,   no,   quite   the   contrary.     When   sober,   he   is  . 
the  civilest  creature  on  earth.     No,  poor  fellow!    they 
were  only  two  homicides,  and  an  abduction." 

"  And  do  you  countenance  and  shelter  such  a  charac- 
ter ?  " 

"  What !  abandon  my  own  foster-brother  for  an  accident 
or  two  } — Pshaw,  Frank,  you  jest.  I'll  tell  you  the 
particulars  another  time." 

It  was  late,  and  we  separated. 


^6  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 


CHAPTER  XIL 


In  a  country  whose  surface  is  covered  with  numerous 
and  extensive  sheets  of  water  like  Mayo,  it  may  be 
considered  that  the  angler  will  find  ample  occupation. 
Independently  of  salmon  and  trout  fishing,  to  those 
who  will  employ  themselves  in  killing  pike  and  perch, 
the  lakes  and  rivers  here  offer  superior  amusement. 
In  the  greater  waters,  Lough  Mask,  Lough  Carra,  and 
Lough  Conn,  the  coarser  species  of  fishes  are  taken  in 
immense  numbers,  and  in  the  lesser  lakes  many  interest- 
ing varieties  of  the  trout  tribe  will  be  found,  from  the 
little  speckled  samlet  to  the  large  and  curious  gillaroo. 
The  natural  history  of  the  samlet,  or  par,  is  very  doubtful. 
Some  assert  it  to  be  a  mule  produced  by  the  salmon 
and  trout.  Others  conjecture  it  to  be  a  hybrid  of  the 
sea  and  river  trout. 

The  par  differs  from  the  small  mountain  trout  in 
colour,  and  in  having  additional  spines  in  the  pectoral 
fin.  It  has  also  certain  olive  bluish  marks  upon  the  side, 
similar  to  the  impressions  made  by  the  pressure  of  a 
man's  fingers. 

Pennant  says  : — "  In  all  these  lakes  the  gillaroo  is 
found.  It  varies  in  weight  from  twelve  to  eighteen 
pounds,  but  sometimes  reaches  thirty  ;  "  and  Daniel 
states  these  fish  to  be  *'  esteemed  for  their  fine  flavour, 
which  is  supposed  to  exceed  that  of  any  other  trout. 
Their  make  is  similar  to  the  common,  except  being 
thicker  in  proportion  to  their  length,  and  of  a  redder 
hue,  both  before  and  after  being  dressed.     The  gillaroo 


FISH   FOUND    IN   MAYO.  77 

is  remarkable  for  having  a  gizzard  resembling  that  of 
a  large  fowl  or  turkey."  He  also  says  : — *'  It  is  usual 
to  dress  the  gizzards  only,  which  are  considered  as  very 
favourite  morsels." 

It  is  true  that  the  scientific  angler  generally  confines 
himself  to  the  use  of  the  fly,  and  for  salmon  and  trout 
he  will  forego  the  commoner  department  of  bait  and 
float  fishing.  Hence,  angling  for  pike  and  perch  is 
usually  an  amusement  of  the  peasantry  ;  and  to  those 
contiguous  to  the  banks  of  the  large  lakes,  it  yields 
occupation  for  idle  hours,  which  might  be  less  inno- 
cently dissipated,  and  occasionally  suppHes  their 
families  with  a  welcome  addition  to  their  unvarying 
food,  the  potato. 

Besides  the  established  system  of  bait-fishing,  other 
and  more  successful  methods  are  resorted  to  by  the 
lake-fishers.  By  mesh-nets  immense  numbers  of  pike 
are  annually  taken  ;  and  with  night-lines,  and  a  very 
simple  contrivance  called  the  pooka ^  these  fish,  with  the 
largest  trout  and  perch,  are  constantly  killed. 

This  latter  implement  is  formed  of  a  piece  of  flat 
board,  having  a  little  mast  and  sail  erected  on  it.  Its 
use  is  to  carry  out  the  extremity  of  a  long  line  of  con- 
siderable stoutness,  to  which,  at  regulated  distances, 
an  infinity  of  droppers  or  links  are  suspended,  each 
armed  with  a  hook  and  bait.  Corks  are  affixed  to  the 
principal  line  or  hack^  to  keep  it  buoyant  on  the  surface  ; 
and  from  a  weather-shore,  if  there  be  a  tolerable  breeze, 
any  quantity  of  hooks  and  baits  can  be  floated  easily 
across  the  water.  The  corks  indicate  to  the  fishermen 
when  a  fish  is  on  the  dropper,  and  in  a  small  punt  or 
curragh,  he  attends  to  remove  the  spoil  and  renew  the 
baits   when   necessary.     Two   hundred   hooks   may   be 


78  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

used  on  the  same  line,  and  the  pooka  at  times  affords 
much  amusement,  and  often  a  well-filled  pannier. 

There  are  no  waters  in  Great  Britain,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  River  Shannon,  where  larger  pike  are  caught 
than  those  taken  in  Loughs  Mask  and  Corrib.     It  would 
appear,  that  in  these  lakes  the  fish  are  commensurate 
to   the  waters  they  inhabit.     It  is   no   unusual   event 
for  pikes  of  thirty  pounds  weight  to  be  sent  to  their 
landlords  by  the  tenants  ;   and  fish  of  even  fifty  pounds 
have  not  unfrequently  been  caught  with  nets  and  night- 
lines.     About  seventeen  years  since,  when  visiting  the  late 
Marquis  of  Clanricarde,  at  Portumna  Castle,  two  gentle- 
men brought  to  the  Marquis  an  immense  pike,  which 
they  had  just  caught  in  the   River   Shannon,  on  the 
banks   of  which  they  had   been   taking  their   evening 
walk.    Attracted  by  a  noise  and  splashing  of  the  water 
they     discovered    in    a     little  ,  creek    a    number     of 
perch  driven  on  shore,  and  a  fish,   which  in  pursuit 
of  them,  had  so  entangled  himself  with  the  ground  as 
to  have  a  great  part  of  his  body  exposed,  and  out  of  the 
water.     They  attacked  him  with  an  oar,  that  by  accident 
lay  on  the  bank,  and  killed  him.     Never  having  seen 
any  fish  of  this  species  so  large,  they  judged  it  worth 
the  observation  of  the  marquis,  who,  equally  surprised 
at  its  magnitude,  had  it  weighed,  and  to  our  astonishment 
it  exceeded  the  balance  at  ninety -two  pounds  ;  its  length 
was  such  that  when  carried  across  the  oar  by  the  two 
gentlemen,  who  were  neither  of  them  short,  the  head  and 
tail  touched  the  ground.     The  trout  in  those  loughs 
are  also  immensely  large.     From  five  to  fifteen  pounds 
is  no  unusual  size,  and  some  have  been  found  that  have 
reached    the   enormous   weight   of   thirty.     The   perch 
tribe    appear    the    smallest    in    the    scale    of    relative 


FISH   FOUND    IN   MAYO.  79 

proportion.  These  seldom  exceed  a  herring  size  ;  but  they, 
too,  have  exceptions,  and  perch  of  three  or  four  pounds 
weight  have  been  sometimes  seen.     Within  fifty  years, 
this  latter  fish  has  increased  prodigiously,  and,  in  the 
lakes  and  rivers  where  they  abound,  trout  have  been 
found   to   diminish   in   an   equal   ratio.     If  any   doubt 
remained  touching  the  fecundity  of  the  perch,  some  of 
the   Mayo  waters  would  prove  it  satisfactorily.     Half 
a  century  since  I  have  been  assured  that  pike  and  perch 
were   almost  unknown  in  the   rivers   of  Belcarra   and 
Minola,  and  the  chain  of  lakes  with  which  they  com- 
municate, and  that  these  waters  were  then  second  to 
none  for  trout  fishing.     Within  ten  years,  my  cousin 
tells  me  that  he  often  angled  in  them,  and  that    he 
frequently  killed  from  three  to  six  dozen  of  beautiful 
middle-sized    red    trout.     Now,    fly-fishing    is    seldom 
practised    there.     The    trout    is    nearly    extinct,     and 
quantities   of  pike   and   perch   infest   every   pool     and 
stream.     The  simplest  methods  of  taking  fish  will  be 
here  found  successful,  and  the  lakes  of  Westmeath  will 
soon  be  rivalled  by  the  loughs  of  Mayo.     Mr.  Young 
mentions  that,  at  Packenham,  Lord  Longford  informed 
him,  respecting  the  quantities  of  fish  in  the  lakes  in  his 
neighbourhood,  that  the  perch  were  so  numerous,  that 
a  child  with  a  pack-thread  and  a  crooked  pin  would  catch 
enough  in  an  hour  for  the  daily  use  of  a  whole  family, 
and  that  his  Lordship  had  seen  five  hundred  children 
fishing  at  the  same  time  ;   that,  besides  perch,  the  lake 
produced  pike  five  feet  long,  and  trout  of  ten  pounds 
each. 

Of  the  great  Western  lakes,  Conn  and  Carra  belong 
to  Mayo  ;  Corrib  to  Galway  ;  and  Mask  lies  between 
both    counties.     The    most    northerly,    Lough    Conn, 


8o  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

is  about  nine  miles  long,  by  two  or  three  in  breadth. 
Part  of  its  shores  are  beautifully  wooded  ;  and  where 
the  lower  and  upper  lakes  unite,  the  channel  is  crossed 
by  a  bridge  of  one  arch,  called  the  Pontoon  ;  and  there 
the  scenery  is  indeed  magnificent. 

Lough  Carra  is  smaller  than  Conn  ;  but,  as  a  sheet 
of  water,  nothing  can  be  more  beautiful ;  and  every- 
thing that  the  painter  delights  to  fancy  may  here  be 
reaHsed.  Islands  and  peninsulas,  with  rich,  over- 
hanging woods,  a  boundless  range  of  mountain  masses 
in  the  distance,  and  ruins  in  excellent  keeping — all  these 
form  a  splendid  study  for  the  artist's  pencil. 

Mask  communicates  with  Carra,  and  their  united 
waters  discharge  themselves  into  Lough  Corrib  by  a 
very  curious  subterraneous  channel  at  Cong.*  Lough 
Corrib  is  largest  of  all ;  it  stretches  twenty  miles  to  its 
southern  extremity  at  Galway,  where,  through  a  bold, 
rocky  river,  it  discharges  its  waters  into  the  Atlantic. 
Its  breadth  is  very  variable,  ranging  from  two  to  twelve 
miles.  Besides  its  singular  connection  with  the  Mayo 
lakes  by  the  underground  channel  at  Cong,  Lough  Corrib 
produces  a  rare  species  of  Muscle,  in  which  pearls  are 
frequently  discovered.  Many  of  them  are  said  to 
afford  beautiful  specimens  of  this  valuable  gem. 

The  smaller  lakes,  which  are  so  profusely  scattered 
over  the  surface  of  this  country,  vary  in  the  species  of 
fish  which  they  respectively  produce,  as  much  as  they 
do  in  their  own  natural  size  and  character.  Some  of 
them  afford  trout,  others  pike  only,  and  many  are  stocked 

*  "  At  Cong,  about  five  miles  from  Ballinrobe,  is  a  subterranean 
cave,  to  which  there  is  a  descent  of  sixty-three  steps,  called  the 
Pigeon  Hole  ;  at  the  bottom  runs  a  clear  stream,  in  which  the  trout 
are  seen  sporting  in  the  water  ;  these  fish  are  never  known  to  take 
a  bait,  but  are  caught  with  landing-nets." — Daniel. 


FISH    FOUND    IN    MAYO.  8l 

with  both.  That  this  union  cannot  long  subsist,  I 
should  be  inclined  to  infer  from  one  remarkable  circum- 
stance, and  it  is  a  convincing  proof  of  the  rapid  destruc- 
tion which  the  introduction  of  pike  into  a  trout  lake 
will  occasion.  Within  a  short  distance  of  Castlebar 
there  is  a  small  bog-lake,  called  Derreens  ;  and  ten 
years  ago  it  was  celebrated  for  its  numerous  and  well- 
sized  trout.  Accidentally  pike  effected  a  passage  into 
the  Lough  from  the  Minola  river,  and  now  the  trout 
are  extinct,  or,  at  least,  none  of  them  are  caught  or 
seen.  Previous  to  the  intrusion  of  the  pike,  half-a-dozen 
trout  would  be  killed  in  an  evening  in  Derreens, 
whose  collective  weight  often  amounted  to  twenty 
pounds. 

Indeed,  few  of  the  Mayo  waters  are  secure  from  the 
encroachments  of  the  pike.  The  lakes  of  Castlebar, 
I  believe,  still  retain  their  ancient  character  ;*  but 
I  understand  that  pike  have  been  latterly  taken  in  the 
Turlough  river,  and  of  course  they  will  soon  appear  in 
a  lake  which  directly  communicates  with  this  stream. 
The  voracity  of  the  pike  is  strongly  exemplified  in  the 
following  extract  from  a  Provincial  Newspaper.  Of 
the  truth  of  the  occurrence  we  presume  there  can  be 
no  reasonable  doubt,  even  in  the  minds  of  the  most 
sceptical  ;  but  we  believe  there  is  no  instance  of  animal 
ferocity  on  record  which  could  parallel  it,  except  in 
the  celebrated  case  of  the  Kilkenny  cats,  whose  respec- 
tive demolition  of  each  other  is  as  wonderful  as  authentic. 

"  A  party  angling  at  Sunbury,  one  of  them  sat  across 
the  head  of  the  boat,  as  a  punishment  inflicted  on  him  for 

*  "  In  the  lake  of  Castlebar,  near  that  town,  is  the  charr  and  the 
gillaroo  trout,  and  it  is  remarked  that  there  are  no  pike  in  this  and 
some  of  the  adjacent  lakes." — Paniel. 

Q 


82  WILD   SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

wearing  his  spurs.  Another,  having  caught  a  gudgeon^ 
stuck  it  on  one  of  the  spurs,  which  he  (the  delinquent 
in  the  bow)  not  perceiving,  in  a  few  minutes  a  large 
jack  bit  at  the  gudgeon,  and  the  spur  being  crane-necked, 
entangled  in  the  gills  of  the  jack,  which,  in  attempting 
to  extricate  himself,  actually  pulled  the  unfortunate 
person  out  of  the  boat.  He  was  with  difficulty  dragged 
on  shore,  and  the  fish  taken,  which  was  of  prodigious 
size."" 

Now,  after  this  cautionary  notice  of  ours,  we  do 
assert  that  any  gentleman  who  goes  to  fish  in  crane- 
necks,  and  disposes  of  his  legs  overboard,  with  a  gudgeon 
on  the  rowel,  is  not  exactly  the  person  on  whose  life, 
were  we  agent  to  a  company,  we  should  feel  justified 
in  effecting  a  policy  of  insurance. 


GROUSE  SHOOTING.  83 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  nineteenth  of  August,  that  busy  day  of  preparation 
with  Irish  sportsmen,  came  at  last.  An  unusual  com- 
motion was  evident  among  my  kinsman's  household, 
and  there  was  a  wondrous  packing-up  of  camp-beds, 
culinary  utensils,  baskets  and  bottles,  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion— in  short,  of  every  necessary  article  for  the  support 
and  destruction  of  life.  At  dawn  of  day  four  horses 
set  off  heavily  laden  ;  shortly  after,  a  second  division  of 
dogs  and  guns  moved  under  a  careful  escort  ;  the 
"  otter-hunter  "  hobbled  off  while  I  was  dressing  ;  and 
the  piper,  the  lightest-laden  of  all  concerned,  closed  the 
rear.  After  breakfast,  two  ponies  were  brought  to  the 
door,  and,  with  a  mounted  attendant  to  carry  our 
cloaks,  my  cousin  and  I  pursued  the  same  route  that  the 
baggage  had  already  taken. 

Talk  not  of  India  !  Its  boasted  gang  of  servants  is 
far  surpassed  by  the  eternal  troop  of  followers  apper- 
taining to  an  Irish  establishment.  Old  John  tells  me 
that  sixteen  regulars  sit  down  to  dinner  in  the  servants* 
hall,  and  that,  at  least,  an  equal  number  of  supernume- 
raries are  daily  provided  for  besides.  When  I  hinted 
to  my  cousin  the  expense  that  must  attend  the  sup- 
porting of  this  idle  and  useless  multitude,  his  reply  was 
so  Irish.  "  Pshaw  !  hang  it ! — sure  they  have  no  wages, 
and  what  the  devil  signifies  all  they  eat?  My  father, 
before  the  landing  of  the  Paul  Jones,  fed  two  hundred 
men  for  a  fortnight,  and  used  to  declare  that  never 
were  there  such  plentiful  times.  It  killed  the  cook, 
however,  poor  woman  !  she  was  literally  broiled  into 
a  pleurisy — but  such  a  wake  as  she  had  !     I  remember 


84  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

it  as  if  it  occurred  but  yesterday.  She  was  carried 
to  the  old  grave- yard  of  Bunmore  the  very  evening  the 
Paul  Jones  landed  her  cargo,  and  although  five  hundred 
men  left  the  house  with  the  corpse,  the  cook  remained 
over-ground  till  the  following  morning,  for  want  of 
sufficient  persons  to  fill  the  grave.  The  fact  was,  that 
just  as  the  funeral  reached  the  church-yard,  the  lugger 
was  suddenly  discovered  rounding  the  Black  Rock. 
Instantly  the  mourners  absconded,  the  bearers  threw 
down  the  body — the  priest,  who  was  deeply  con- 
cerned in  the  cargo,  was  the  first  to  fly  ; — and  the 
defunct  cook  was  left  accordingly  in  peaceable  posses- 
sion of  Bunmore." 

To  arrive  at  our  mountain-quarters  we  were  obliged 
to  cross  the  river  repeatedly.  When  swollen  with  rain 
the  stream  is  impassable,  and  the  communication 
between  the  hill  country  and  the  lowlands  interrupted, 
until  the  flood  abates.  At  one  of  the  fords,  my  kinsman 
pointed  out  a  little  cairtiy  or  heap  of  stones,  erected  on 
the  summit  of  a  hillock  which  overhung  the  passage 
we  were  crossing.  It  is  placed  there  to  commemorate 
the  drowning  of  a  shepherd,  and,  as  an  incident  in  humble 
life,  it  struck  me  as  being  particularly  affecting. 

"  In  1822,  when  the  western  part  of  Ireland  was 
afflicted  with  grievous  famine,  and  when  England 
stepped  forward  nobly,  and  poured  forth  her  thousands 
to  save  those  who  were  perishing  for  want,  a  depot 
of  provisions  was  established  on  the  sea-coast  for  the 
relief  of  the  suffering  inhabitants  of  this  remote  district. 

'*  A  solitary  family,  who  had  been  driven  from  their 
lowland  home  by  the  severity  of  the  relentless  middle- 
man, had  settled  themselves  in  this  wild  valley,  and 
erected  the  clay  walls  of  that  ruined  hut  before  you, 


GROUSE  SHOOTING.  85 

The  man  was  shepherd  to  a  farmer  who  kept  cattle  on 
these  mountains.  Here,  in  this  savage  retreat,  he 
lived  removed  from  the  world,  for  the  nearest  cabin 
to  this  spot  is  more  than  four  miles  distant. 

"  It  may  be  supposed  that  the  general  distress  afflicted 
this  isolated  family.  The  welcome  news  of  the  arrival 
of  succours  at  Ballycroy  at  length  reached  them,  and  the 
herdsman  set  out  to  procure  some  of  the  committee-meal 
to  relieve  the  hunger  of  his  half-starved  family. 

"  On  arriving  at  the  depot,  the  stock  of  meal  was 
nearly  expended  :  however,  he  obtained  a  temporary 
supply,  and  was  comforted  with  the  assurance  that  a 
large  quantity  was  hourly  expected. 

"  Anxious  to  bring  the  means  of  sustenance  to  his 
suffering  little  ones,  the  herdsman  crossed  the  mountain 
with  his  precious  burden,  and  reached  that  hillock 
where  the  stones  are  loosely  piled. 

"  But  during  his  absence  at  Ballycroy  the  rain  had 
fallen  heavily  in  the  hills  ;  the  river  was  no  longer 
fordable ;  a  furious  torrent  of  discoloured  water  rushed 
from  the  heights,  and  choked  the  narrow  channel.  There 
stood  the  returning  parent,  within  twenty  paces  of 
his  wretched  but  dearly  loved  hovel.  The  children, 
with  a  cry  of  delight,  rushed  from  the  hut  to  the  opposite 
bank  to  welcome  him  ;  but,  terrified  by  the  fearful 
appearance  of  the  flood,  his  wife  entreated  him  not 
to  attempt  its  passage  for  the  present. 

"  But  would  he,  a  powerful  and  experienced  swimmer, 
be  deterred  ?  The  eager  and  hungry  looks  of  his 
expecting  family  maddened  the  unhappy  father.  He 
threw  aside  his  clothes,  bound  them  with  the  meal  upon 
his  back,  crossed  himself  devoutly,  and,  '  in  the  name  of 
God,'  committed  himself  to  the  swollen  river. 


86  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

"  For  a  moment  he  breasted  the  torrent  gallantly — 
two  strokes  more  would  bring  him  to  the  bank — ^when 
the  treacherous  load  turned,  caught  him  round  the  neck, 
swept  him  down  the  stream,  sank,  and  drowned  him. 
He  struggled  hard  for  life.  His  wife  and  children 
followed  the  unhappy  man  as  he  was  borne  away — and 
their  agonising  shrieks  told  him,  poor  wretch  !  that 
assistance  from  them  was  hopeless.  At  last  the  body 
disappeared,  and  was  taken  up  the  following  morning 
four  miles  from  this  fatal  place.  One  curious  circum- 
stance attended  this  calamity  :  to  philosophers  I  leave 
its  elucidation,  while  I  pledge  myself  for  its  accuracy 
in  point  of  fact.  A  herd  of  cattle  galloped  madly  down 
the  river-side  at  the  time  their  unfortunate  keeper 
was  perishing  ;  their  bello wings  were  heard  for  miles, 
and  they  were  discovered  next  morning,  grouped 
around  the  body  of  the  dead  shepherd,  in  the  corner  of 
a  sandy  cove,  where  there  the  abated  flood  had  left  it." 

Every  one  shoots  grouse  ;  the  operation  is  so  common- 
place that  none  but  a  cockney  would  find  novelty 
in  its  detail.  Our  morning's  sport  was  excellent.  The 
dogs  were  in  good  working  condition,  and  under  perfect 
command  ;  but  at  noon  the  breeze  died  away,  the  day 
became  oppressively  hot,  and  the  biting  of  gnats  and 
horse-flies  intolerable.  Not  being  exterminators,  we 
ceased  shooting  at  three  o'clock,  and  returned  to  our  - 
cabin  with  two-and-twenty  brace  of  birds. 

The  particulars  of  the  evening  compotation  I  shall 
be  excused  in  passing  over.  I  must  allow  that  the 
portion  of  wine  allotted  to  sportsmen  by  the  Author  of 
Salmonia  was  awfully  exceeded.  We  anointed  our 
faces  with  cold  cream,  which  speedily  removed  the  pain 
and  inflammation  consequent  on  the  stinging  we  had 


GROUSE  SHOOTING.  87 

endured  from  the  insects,  and,  after  "  blowing  a  com- 
fortable cloud,'*  went  to  bed  and  slept ;  but  a  man 
must  exercise  and  carouse  with  a  grouse-shooter,  to 
conceive  the  deep  and  delicious  repose  which  attends  the 
sportsman's  pillow. 

This  morning  we  were  early  astir.  There  was  a 
mutual  admission  of  slight  headache,  but  coffee  and  fresh 
air  will  soon  remove  it.  Having  finished  breakfast,  and, 
in  spite  of  Sir  Humphry's  denunciations,  fortified  our- 
selves against  damp  feet  with  a  glass  of  Mareschino 
we  left  the  cabin  for  the  moors. 

Never  was  there  a  wilder  spot  than  the  dell  in  which 
we  have  taken  up  our  shooting  quarters.  It  is  a  herds- 
man's hovel,  to  which  my  kinsman  has  added  an  apart- 
ment for  his  accommodation  in  the  grouse  season. 
This  is  our  banquet-room  and  dormitory  ;  a  press  in 
the  corner  contains  our  various  drinkables,  and  upon  a 
host  of  pegs,  stuck  into  the  interstices  of  the  masonry, 
hang  guns  and  belts,  and  all  the  unmentionable  appa- 
ratus of  a  sportsman.  The  cabin  itself  is  appropriated 
to  culinary  purposes  and  to  the  accommodation  of  our 
dogs  and  personal  attendants.  The  quadrupeds  are 
quartered  in  the  farther  extremity  of  the  house,  and, 
after  their  fatigue,  luxuriate  gloriously  upon  a  fresh 
bed  of  sun-dried  fern. 

In  a  calliogh^  beside  the  fire,  the  keeper  and  old 

*  "  Callioghs  "  are  recesses  built  in  the  side  walls  of  an  Irish  cabin, 
convenient  to  the  hearth,  and  sufficiently  large  to  contain  a  bed. 
Some  of  them  are  quite  open  to  the  fire  ;  while  others  are  partially- 
screened  from  view  by  a  rude  matting  of  bent  or  straw. 

If  you  enter  a  peasant's  hovel  on  a  wet  day,  and  inquire  for  the 
owner  of  the  house,  a  strapping  hoy  will  generally  roll  out  of  one  of 
these  dark  cribs,  yawn,  stretch  his  arms,  scratch  his  head,  and  bid 
"  your  honour  "  welcome,  and  then  inform  you  that  he  "  was  just 
strichin'  on  the  bed." 


88  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

John,  who  officiates  as  cook,  are  deposited  at  night, 
while  the  otter-hunter  and  piper  canton  themselves  in 
the  opposite  den.  A  detachment  of  boys,  or  irregulars, 
who  have  followed  the  master  to  the  mountains,  bivouac 
somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  the  cabin.  In  a  sod-walled 
sheeling  erected  against  a  huge  rock,  the  herdsman  and 
his  family  have  taken  up  their  temporary  residence, 
while  we  occupy  the  hut ;  but  its  limited  dimensions 
would  be  quite  unequal  to  shelter  a  moiety  of  our 
extensive  train.  But  while  a  mountain  sheep  hangs 
from  '*  the  couples  "*  of  the  cabin,  and  the  whisky- 
keg  continues  unexhausted,  those  worthies  matter  little 
in  what  cranny  they  ensconce  themselves  at  night. 
To  a  late  hour  the  piper  is  in  requisition,  and  these 
careless  devils  dance,  and  laugh,  and  sing,  until  my 
cousin^s  mandate  scatters  them  like  ghosts  at  cock- 
crow ;  off  they  scamper,  and  where  they  bestow  them- 
selves till  morning,  none  but  themselves  can  tell. 
Although  the  quantity  of  whisky  consumed  here,  in 
the  short  space  of  three  days,  appears  almost  incredible  ; 
yet  upon  these  seasoned  vessels  its  effects  are  so  very 
transitory  as  almost  to  authenticate  the  boasted  virtues 
of  the  mountain-dew — "  that  there  is  not  an  aching 
head  in  a  hogshead  full !  " 

While  traversing  a  low  range  of  moors  an  incident 
occurred  which  at  this  season  was  unaccountable.  A 
red  and  white  setter  pointed  at  the  top  of  a  little  glen. 
The  heathy  banks  on  both  sides  of  a  mountain  rivulet 
undulated  gently  from  the  stream,  and  caused  a  dipping 
of  the  surface  ;    and  the  ground  seemed  a  favourable 

*  The  couples  are  the  principal  timbers  that  support  the  roof  ; 
they  are  placed  at  stated  distances,  and  an  Irishman  describes  the 
size  of  a  house  by  telling  you  that  it  has  so  many  "  couples." 


GROUSE   SHOOTING.  89 

haunt  for  grouse,  and  our  dogs  were  beating  it  with 
care.     Observing    the    setter    drop,    his     companions 
backed    and    remained    steady,    when    suddenly    Hero 
rose  from  his  couchant  attitude,  and  next  moment  a 
wild  deer,  of  enormous  size  and  splendid  beauty,  crossed 
before  the  dog  and  sprang  the  birds  he  had  been  pointing. 
The  apparition  of  the  animal,  so  little  expected,  and  so 
singularly  and  closely  introduced  to  our  view,  occasioned 
a  sensation  I  had  never  hitherto  experienced.     I  rushed 
up  the  bank,  while,  unembarrassed  by  our  presence, 
the  noble  deer  swept  past  us  in  a  light  and  graceful 
canter,  at  the  short  distance  of  some  seventy  or  eighty 
yards.     I  might  have  fired  at  and  annoyed  him — but 
on  a  creature  so  powerful  small  shot  could  have  pro- 
duced  little   effect,   and   none   but   a   Cockney,   under 
similar  circumstances,  would  waste  a  charge  ;    and  to 
tease,  without  a  chance  of  bringing  down  the  gallant 
beast,  would  have  been  a  species  of  useless  mischief, 
meriting  a  full  month  upon  the  tread-mill.     I  gazed 
after  him  as  he  gradually  increased  his  distance  ;    his 
antlers  were  expanded  as  fully  as  my  arms  would  extend  ; 
his  height  was  magnificent ;   and,  compared  with  fallow- 
deer,  he  seemed  a  giant  to  a  dwarf.     The  sun  beamed 
upon  his   deep   bay  side,  as   he   continued  describing 
a  circular  course  over  the  flat  surface  of  the  moor,  till 
reaching  a  rocky  opening  leading  to  the  upper  hills, 
he  plunged  into  the  ravine,  and  we  lost  sight  of  him. 

What  could  have  driven  the  red  deer  so  low  upon  the 
heath  was  marvellous.  Excepting  when  disturbed  by 
a  solitary  hunter,  or  a  herdsman  in  pursuit  of  errant 
cattle,  or  driven  from  the  summit  of  the  hills  by  snow 
and  storm,  those  deer  are  rarely  seen  below  the  Alpine 
heights    they    inhabit.     But    the    leisure    pace    of   the 


90  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

beautiful  animal  we  saw  to-day  proved  that  he  had  not 
been  alarmed  in  his  lair,  and  led  one  almost  to  fancy- 
that  in  freakish  mood  he  had  abandoned  his  mountain 
home  to  take  a  passing  glance  of  the  men  and  things 
beneath  him. 

At  five  o'clock  we  left  the  moors,  and  returned  to  our 
cabin.  The  day  throughout  had  been  propitious ; 
the  breeze  tempered  the  heat  which  yesterday  oppressed 
us,  and  our  walk  this  morning  had  been  only  pleasant 
exercise.  We  were  neither  exhausted  by  an  ardent 
sky,  nor  annoyed  by  the  dazzling  glare  of  constant 
sunshine.  The  gnats,  which  lately  had  been  intoler- 
able, had  vanished,  and  we  were  thus  enabled  to  perform 
our  ablutions  in  the  clear  and  sparkling  river  ;  a  feat 
last  night  impracticable,  from  the  number  and  virulence 
of  the  insects.  He  who  has  bathed  his  limbs  in  the  cool 
and  crystal  waters  of  a  mountain  stream  after  a  busy  day 
upon  the  heath  can  only  estimate  its  luxury.  Twenty 
brace  of  grouse,  three  hares,  and  a  half-score  of  gray 
plovers,  was  the  produce  of  our  chasse. 


THE  OTTER- HUNTER  S   HISTORY.  9 1 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  moon  rose  in  great  splendour  over  the  bold  chain 
of  mountains  which  belts  the  valley  where  we  are 
cantoned.  The  piper  is  merrily  at  work,  for  some  of 
the  peasant  girls  have  come  to  visit  us,  attracted  by  the 
joyful  news  that  a  pieberagh*  was  included  in  our  suite. 
The  fondness  of  these  mountain  maidens  for  dancing 
is  incredible  ;  at  times  of  festival,  on  the  occasion  of  a 
wedding,  or  dragging-home^'f  or  whenever  a  travelling 
musician  passes  through  these  wilds,  they  assemble 
from  prodigious  distances,  and  dance  for  days  and 
nights  together. 

My  kinsman  and  I  having  duly  executed  a  jig  with 
a  brace  of  Nora  Crinas,  left  the  hut  and  strolled  a  short 
way  up  the  river.  The  quiet  of  "  lonely  night  "  con- 
trasted strikingly  with  the  scene  of  turbulent  and  vivacious 
mirth  we  had  but  just  quitted.  A  jutting  bank  suddenly 
shut  the  cabin  from  our  view,  and  its  lights  and  music 
ceased  to  be  seen  or  heard.  A  deep,  unbroken  silence 
reigned  around.  The  moon's  disc  appeared  of  unusual 
size,  as  she  rose  in  cloudless  majesty  over  the  mountain 
masses  which  earlier  in  the  evening  had  concealed  her. 
Not  a  cloud  was  in  the  sky,  and  the  unequal  outline  of 
the  hills  displayed  a  fine  picture  of  light  and  shadow 
— and  the  stream  rippled  at  our  feet,  as,  "  tipped  with 
silver,"  we  traced  its  wanderings  for  miles,  while  its 
sparkling  current  was  lost  or  seen  among  the  moor-land. 

*  Anglice,  piper. 

t  "  Dragging  home  "  is  the  bringing  the  bride  for  the  first  time  to 
her  husband's  house.  An  immense  mob  of  relatives  and  clevines 
of  "  both  the  houses,"  are  collected  on  the  occasion,  and  as  an  awful 
quantity  of  whisky  must  of  necessity  be  distributed  to  the  company, 
this  "  high  solemnity  "  seldom  concludes  without  subjecting  the 
host's  person   and   property  to  demolition. 


92  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

Just  then  a  human  figure  turned  the  rock  abruptly, 
and  the  old  otter-killer  stood  beside  us.  The  rushing 
of  the  stream  prevented  us  from  noticing  his  approach. 
He  had  been  examining  his  traps,  and  as  the  way  was 
rugged,  he  was  delayed  till  now.  The  old  man's  appear- 
ance in  this  place,  and  at  that  hour,  was  picturesque. 
His  dark  dress,  his  long,  white  hair,  falling  down  his 
shoulders,  the  seal-skin  wallet,  the  fish-spear,  and  the 
rough  terrier,  his  companion,  all  were  in  perfect  keeping. 

"  Well,  Antony,  what  sport  ?  " 

"  Little  to  speak  of.  Master  Julius.  I  suspect  the 
trap  wants  oiling,  for  there  was  an  otter's  spraints* 
every  place  about  it.  I  went  to  the  lake  yonder,  and 
while  the  breeze  kept  up  the  fish  took  well.  I  killed 
a  dozen  red  trout." 

"  Did  you  meet  any  of  the  *  gentlefolk, ^'\  friend 
Antony  ?  This  is  just  the  night  that  one  would  expect 
to  find  them  quadrilling  upon  some  green  and  mossy 
hillock." 

The  old  man  smiled  and  turned  to  me, — 

"  Well,  well,  the  master  won't  beUeve  in  them  ;  but 
if  he  had  seen  them  as  I  did — " 

"  And  did  you  really  see  them  ?  " 

"  God  knows,  I  tell  you  truth.  Sir."  Then,  resting 
himself  on  a  rock,  he  thus  continued  : — 

*'  It  will  be  eleven  years  next  month,  when  I  was 
hunting  otters  at  Lough  na  Mucka  ; — the  master  knows 
the  place,  for  many  a  good  grouse  he  shot  beside  it.  I 
then  had  the  two  best  tarriers  beneath  the  canopy ; 
this  poor  crater  is  their  daughter,"  and  he  patted  the 
dog's    head    affectionately. — "  Well,    I    had    killed    two 

♦  Marks  or  traces  left  by  the  animal.  f  Fairies. 


93 

well-sized  cubs,  when  Badger,  who  had  been  working 
in  the  weeds,  put  out  the  largest  bitch  I  ever  saw  ;    I 
fired  at  her,  but  she  was  too  far  from  me,  and  away  she 
went  across  the  Lough,  and  Badger  and  Venom  after 
her.     She  rose  at  last ;    Badger  gripped  her,  and  down 
went  dog  and  otter.      They  remained  so  long  under  water 
that  I  was  greatly  afraid  the  dog  was  drowned  ;    but, 
after  a  while,  up  came  Badger.     Though  I  was  right  glad 
to  see  my  dog,  I  did  not  like  to  lose  the  beast ;  and  I 
knew,  from  the  way  that  Badger's  jaws  were  torn,  that 
there  had  been  a  wicked  struggle  at  the  bottom.     Well,  I 
encouraged  the  dog,  and  when  he  had  got  his  breath 
again,  he  dived  down,  nothing  daunted,  for  he  was  the 
best  tarrier  ever  poor  man  was  master  of.    Long  as  he 
had  been  before  at  the  bottom,  he  was  twice  longer  now. 
The   surface   bubbled,   the   mud   rose,   and   the   water 
became  black  as  ink  :    '  Ogh  !   murder,'  says  I,  '  Badger, 
have  I  lost  ye  ? '    and  I  set-to  clapping  my  hands  for 
trouble,  and  Venom  set  up  the  howl  as  if  her  heart  was 
broke.     When,  blessed  be  the  Maker  of  all !   up  comes 
Badger  with  the  otter  gripped  by  the  neck.     The  bitch 
swam  over  to  help  him,  and  I  waded  to  the  middle, 
and  speared  and  landed  the  beast.     Well,  then  I  examined 
her,  she  had  her  mouth  full  of  ould  roots  and  moss, 
for  she  had  fastened  on  a  stump  at  the  bottom,  and  the 
poor  dog  was  sorely  put- to  to  make  her  break  her  hold. 
I  mind  it  well  :    I  sold  the  skin  in  Galway,  and  got  a 
gold  guinea  for  it." 

"  Was  that  the  night  you  met  the  fairies  ?  " 
**  Stay,   Master  Julius  ;    I'm  coming  to  that.     Well 
three  otters  were  a  heavy  load,  and  I  had  four  miles 
to  travel  before  I   could  reach  Morteein  Crassagh's,^ 
♦  Martin  with  the  rough  face, 


94  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

The  master  knows  the  house  well.  The  night  was 
getting  dark,  and  it's  the  worst  ground  in  Connaught. 
Well,  I  was  within  a  mile  of  Morteein's,  when  it  became 
as  black  as  pitch  ;  and  I  had  the  shaking  bog  to  cross, 
that  you  can  hardly  pass  in  daytime,  where,  if  a  man 
missed  his  way,  he  would  be  swallowed  up  in  a  moment. 
The  rain  began,  and  the  poor  dogs  were  famished  with 
cold  and  hunger.  God  !  I  was  sure  I  must  stay  there, 
starving  till  the  morning  ;  when,  on  a  sudden,  little 
lights  danced  before  me,  and  showed  me  the  hard 
tammocks  as  plain  as  if  the  sun  was  up.  I  was  in  a 
cruel  fright,  and  the  dogs  whimpered,  and  would  not 
stir  from  my  foot.  I  was  afraid  to  stay  where  I  was, 
as  I  knew  the  gentle-people  were  about  me  ;  and  I  was 
unwilling  to  attempt  the  quagh,*  for  fear  the  light 
would  leave  me,  and  then  I  would  get  neither  back  nor 
forward.  Well,  the  wind  began  to  rise  ;  the  rain  grew 
worse  ;  I  got  desperate,  and  resolved  to  speak  to  the 
fairies  civilly.  *  Gentlemen  and  ladies,'  says  I,  making 
a  bow  to  the  place  where  the  lights  were  dancing, 
*  may  be  ye  would  be  so  obliging  as  to  light  me  across 
the  bog.'  In  a  minute  there  was  a  blaze  from  one  end 
of  the  quagh  to  the  other,  and  a  hundred  lights  were 
flashing  over  the  bogs.  I  took  heart  and  ventured  ; 
and  wherever  I  put  my  foot,  the  place  was  as  bright  as 
day,  and  I  crossed  the  swamp  as  safely  as  if  I  had  been 
walking  on  a  gravelled  road.  Every  inch  the  light  came 
with  me,  till  I  reached  the  horeein\  leading  to  Morteein 
Crassagh's  ;  then,  turning  about,  I  made  the  fairies  a 
low  bow  :  *  Gentlemen  and  ladies,'  says  I,  '  I'm  humbly 
thankful  for  your  civility,  and  I  wish  ye  now  a  merry 
night  of  it.'     God  preserve  us  !     The  words  were  hardly 

*  A  morass.  f  A  horsepath  leading  into  bogs. 


THE   OTTER- HUNTER  S    HISTORY.  95 

out  when  there  was  a  roar  of  laughter  above,  below  and 
around  me.  The  lights  vanished,  and  it  became  at  once 
so  dark  that  I  could  scarcely  make  out  my  way.  When 
I  got  fairly  inside  Morteein's  kitchen,  I  fainted  dead  ; 
and  when  I  came  to,  I  told  them  what  had  happened. 
Many  a  time  fairy  candles  are  seen  at  Lough  na  Mucka  ; 
but  sorrow  mortal  was  ever  lighted  across  the  quagh 
by  the  gentle-people  but  myself,  and  that  the  country 
knows.  Well — ^the  master  is  laughing  at  me  ;  but  I'll 
hobble  to  the  cabin,  or  they'll  think  th2it  tYiQ gentle  people 
have  carried  me  off  at  last,  as  they  did  Shamus  Bollogh,* 
from  Ballycroy." 

This  gentleman's  temporary  sojourn  with  the  fairies 
is  generally  credited  in  Ballycroy.  Why  the  gentle- 
folk, who  are  accounted  scrupulous  in  selecting 
youth  and  beauty  when  they  abduct  mortals,  should 
have  pitched  upon  Shamus,  is  unaccountable.  His 
charms  are  of  the  plainest  order,  and  he  had  long  passed 
his  teens  before  the  period  of  his  being  carried  away. 
His  own  account  of  the  transaction  is  but  a  confused 
one — and  all  I  recollect  of  the  particulars  is,  that  he 
crossed  to  Tallaghan,  over  an  arm  of  the  sea,  on  a  grey 
horse,  behind  a  little  man  dressed  in  green.  Neither 
good  nor  evil  resulted  from  this  nocturnal  gallop  of 
"  the  Stutterer,"  if  we  except  a  sound  horse- whipping 
which  he  received  from  the  priest,  for  attempting  to 
abuse  the  credulity  of  the  peasantry,  by  detailing  the 
fairy  revels  in  which  he  alleged  that  he  participated. 

Presently  we  returned  to  the  hut  :    the  whisky   had 

began  to  operate  on  the  corps  de  ballet  in  the  kitchen, 

for  the  pipes  played  louder,  and  the  girls  danced  with 

additional  esprit.     To  think  of  bed,  with  such  a  company 

*  James  the  vStutterer. . 


96 


WILD    SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 


beside  us,  would  be  idle :  my  cousin  accordingly 
recharged  his  meerschaum,  and,  between  many  a  puff, 
gave  me  the  following  memoir  of  the  otter-hunter : — 

"  The  old  man  is  a  character.  In  his  early  days  he 
was  a  travelling  pedlar,  a  dealer  in  furs  and  Connemara 
stockings.  He  had  always  an  unconquerable  fancy 
for  angling  and  otter-killing  ;  and,  with  a  pack  upon  his 
shoulders  and  a  fishing-spear  in  his  hand,  he  traversed 
the  kingdom  in  the  double  pursuit  of  pleasure  and  profit. 

"  When  he  disposed  of  his  merchandise,  he  returned 
home  laden  with  the  skins  he  had  collected  in  his 
wanderings.  He  has  frequently  brought  thirty  furs 
together  to  Limerick  for  sale  ;  and  as  they  were  then 
a  valuable  commodity,  he  acquired,  in  a  few  years,  a 
considerable  property. 

'*  In  one  of  his  excursions,  however,  Antony  managed 
to  pick  up  a  wife.  She  was  young  and  handsome  ; 
and,  tiring  of  his  unsettled  life,  persuaded  the  unhappy 
otter-killer  to  forego  his  favourite  calling,  and  turn  his 
fish-spear  into  a  spigot.  In  short,  he  took  a  house  in 
town,  became  a  publican,  got  extensive  business,  gave 
credit,  and  soon  was  drunken  and  embarrassed  ;  his 
wife  flirted,  his  property  melted  away,  and  his  frail 
rib  at  last  levanted  with  an  English  showman.  Antony 
was  astounded,  but  he  bore  misfortune  like  a  philo- 
sopher. Renouncing  whisky,  except  in  limited  quan- 
tities, he  resumed  the  otter-trap,  which  had  been  rusting 
in  a  garret ;  and,  one  fine  moonlight  night,  turned  the 
key  in  the  door,  abandoned  goods  and  chattels  to  the 
landlord,  and  disappeared,  '  leaving  his  curse  with 
Limerick.' 

''  No  Bedouin  returned  from  captivity  to  his  parent's 
tent — no  Swiss  revisited  his  native  valley    with  more 


THE    OTTER-HUNTER  S    HISTORY.  97 

delight  than  the  cornuted  otter-killer,  when  he  hurried 
back  to  his  beloved  mountains.  From  that  moment  he 
forswore  the  town  ;  and  excepting  on  his  annual  visit 
to  the  furrier,  Antony  has  avoided  the  busier  haunts 
of  mankind.  Having  added  bleeding  to  the  number  of 
his  acquirements,  he  practises  pharmacy  in  this  wilder- 
ness, and  for  forty  years  has  led  a  careless,  migratory 
life,  tolerated  in  the  hall,  and  welcomed  in  the  cabin, 
until  increasing  years  and  bodily  infirmity  confined 
him  to  his  wild  birth-place,  where  the  otter  can  be 
trapped  without  fatigue,  and  the  salmon  will  yet  reward 
the  old  man's  skill.  The  Lodge  is  now  Antony's 
headquarters,  and  the  remnant  of  his  wandering  life 
will  probably  be  spent  with  me. 

''  But  it  is  not  as  a  hunter  and  leech  that  the  ancient 
otter-killer  is  alone  valuable.  In  his  wanderings  he 
picked  up  tales  and  traditions  among  the  wild  people 
he  consorted  with ;  his  memory  is  most  tenacious, 
and  he  narrates  strange  legends  which,  in  wildness  and 
imagination,  rival  the  romances  of  the  East.  In  winter, 
when  the  snow  falls  and  the  fury  of  the  storm  is  unloosed, 
Antony  is  settled  in  his  rude  but  comfortable  chair, 
formed  of  twisted  bent.  The  women  of  my  household 
listen  to  his  love-stories  with  affected  indifference,  but 
there  is  always  some  apology  for  remaining  near  the 
otter-killer.  At  times,  when  the  old  man  is  summoned  after 
dinner  to  receive  his  customary  glass,  I,  if  I  be  *  i'the 
humour ^^  listen  to  his  wild  legends  ;  and  here,  in  this 
mountain  hut,  seated  in  this  room,  *  mine  own  great 
chamber,'  while  I  luxuriate  over  a  bright  bog-deal  fire, 
an  exquisite  cigar,  and  an  admixture  of  pure  Hollands 
with  the  crystal  water  that  falls  from  the  rock  behind 
us,    I    listen    in    voluptuous    tranquillity    to  Antony's 

H 


98  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

romances,  as  he  recites  to  his  attentive  auditory  in  the 
kitchen  his  narratives  of  former  times. 

"  If  the  otter-hunter's  tales  be  true,  the  primitive 
gentlewomen  of  the  Emerald  Isle  were  no  vestals  ;  and 
the  judge  of  the  Consistorial  Court,  had  such  then 
existed,  would  have  had  scarcely  time  to  bless  himself." 

It  was  twelve  o'clock,  and  no  abatement  of  revelry 
was  yet  manifest  among  the  dancers  in  the  kitchen. 
The  piper's  music  appeared  inexhaustible,  and,  maugre 
fatigue  and  whisky,  the  company  were  as  fresh  and 
effective  as  when  the  ball  commenced.  "  I  must  rout 
them,"  said  my  cousin  ;  "  the  devils  would  dance  till 
doomsday."  He  opened  the  door,  but  stopped  and 
beckoned  me  to  approach.  I  looked  out ;  the  boys 
and  girls  had  left  the  floor,  the  men  settling  themselves 
on  the  colliaghSy  empty  casks,  and  turf  cleaves ^^  while 
the  ladies  were  comfortably  accommodated  upon  their 
partners'  knees.  One  gentleman  alone  was  standing. 
Presently  two  sticks  were  laid  crosswise  on  the  ground  ; 
the  pipes  struck  up  an  unusual  sort  of  jig,  and  the  feat 
commenced.  "  This,"  said  my  kinsman,  ''  is  called 
the  '  pater-o-pee^'  and  none  but  an  accomplished  dancer 
would  attempt  it." 

To  describe  this  dance  would  be  impossible  :  it  con- 
sisted of  an  eternal  hopping  into  the  small  compart- 
ments formed  by  the  crossing  of  the  cudgels  on  the  floor, 
without  touching  the  sticks. 

Now,  holding  reasonable  doubts  whether,  upon  Mr. 
Cooney  presenting  himself  to  Monsieur  Laporte,  this 
gentleman  would  favour  him  with  an  engagement,  I'll 
bet  the  manager,  notwithstanding,  a  cool  hundred,  that, 
on  the  strength  of  the  King's  Theatre,  he  has  no  artiste 
who  will  touch  Tim  Cooney  at  the  pater-o-pee  ! 
♦  A  nglice,  baskets. 


RED   DEER.  99 


CHAPTER  XV. 

How  rapidly  the  waters  of  a  mountain  river  swell 
and  subside  !  Last  night  the  steep  bank  before  the 
cabin  door  was  scarcely  visible  above  the  swollen  and 
discoloured  stream.  The  flood  is  gone ;  the  river 
has  recovered  its  silvery  hue,  and  no  traces  of  yesterday's 
violence  appear,  save  the  huge  masses  of  turf  left  by  the 
receding  waters  on  the  shore,  which,  from  their  size, 
prove  how  fierce  the  torrent  was  when  at  its  height. 

We  have  been  expecting  anxiously  a  messenger  with 
the  post-bag,  for  three  days  have  elapsed  since  its  last 
arrival.  There  will  be  an  accumulation  of  newspapers. 
What  a  treasure  they  would  have  been  yesterday  !  Ha  ! 
there  is  a  bustle  in  the  outer  cabin  ;  no  doubt  an  arrival. 
It  is  the  messenger. 

I  never  saw  finer  samples  of  the  mountain  peasantry 
than  this  man  and  his  brother  exhibit.  They  are 
scarcely  to  be  known  asunder  ;  young,  particularly 
handsome,  five  feet  eleven  inches,  light,  active,  clean- 
limbed, perfect  specimens  of  strength  and  symmetry 
combined  ;  good-humoured,  indefatigable,  and  obliging, 
submissive  to  the  Master's  nod,  and  yet  the  boldest  and 
handiest  boys  in  Ballycroy.  I  sometimes  look  after 
my  kinsman  as  he  strides  over  the  moors  with  his  hand- 
some henchmen  at  his  back.  He  walks  as  if  the  province 
was  his  own  ;  bold,  and  careless,  and  confident — no 
wonder — those  wild  fellows  are  his  fosterers,  and  they 
would  shed  the  last  drop  of  their  blood  for  "  the  Master," 
if  he  required  it. 


100  WILD   SPORTS    OF  THE  WEST. 

This  fidelity  and  devotion  on  the  one  side  is  requited 
by  kindness  and  protection  on  the  other.  These  men 
have  lived  about  the  Lodge  from  boyhood — and  they 
come  and  depart  as  they  please.  At  spring  and  harvest- 
times  they  repair  to  the  village  where  their  parents 
reside,  to  assist  the  old  couple  and  the  girls  in  getting 
the  potatoes  in  and  out  of  the  ground  ;  they  tend  the 
cattle  in  the  mountains  when  requisite,  and  pass  the 
remainder  of  the  year  following  the  Master  to  the  moors 
or  to  the  river,  catching  fish,  netting  rabbits,  or  killing 
wild-fowl  in  the  winter  ;  and  dancing,  drinking,  and 
fighting  on  holidays  and  festivals,  as  becomes  good  men 
and  loyal  subjects. 

When  they  marry — ^for  Malthus  and  restrictions  upon 
population  are  no  more  recognised  in  Erris  than  the  Pope 
is  by  a  modern  Methodist — they  will  obtain  a  patch  of 
mountain  from  their  patron,  erect  a  cabin,  construct 
a  still,  and  setting  political  dogmas  at  defiance,  then  and 
there  produce  most  excellent  whisky,  and  add  to  the 
"  seven  milHons  "  considerably. 

The  messenger  presented  himself  with  the  post-bag, 
being  anxious  to  render  a  personal  account  of  the  causes 
of  his  delay.  His  night's  adventure  is  quite  character- 
istic of  the  wild  life  and  bold  and  reckless  spirit  of  these 
mountain  peasants. 

The  route  to  the  next  post-town  lie«  through  the  ridge 
of  hills  which  I  have  already  described,  as  bounding  the 
valley  where  we  are  quartered.  The  usual  way  to  reach 
it  is  by  an  old  and  rugged  horse-path,  which,  although 
seldom  frequented  now,  was  fifty  years  since  the  only 
means  of  communication  which  Erris  had  with  the 
southern  baronies.  This  easier  but  more  circuitous 
route  was  abandoned  by  the  young  peasant,  who  hoped 


RED    DEER.  lOI 

by  directly  crossing  the  heights,  to  arrive  at  the  cabin 
before  the  night  shut  in.  He  took  this  perilous  direc- 
tion accordingly  ;  but  the  rain  was  still  falling  fast, 
and  when  he  topped  the  ridge  of  the  hills,  the  valley 
beneath  was  covered  by  a  dense  mist.  Presently  the 
mountain  streams  rose,  the  light  failed — to  advance  or 
retreat  was  impossible  ;  and  the  isolated  peasant  had  no 
choice  left  but  to  seek  a  shelter  in  the  rocks,  and  remain 
there  until  morning  dawned.  He  easily  discovered 
a  fissure  in  the  steep  bank  above  the  river,  crept  in — 
"  blessed  himselj " — and  lay  down  to  sleep  upon  his 
cold  and  rugged  bed. 

What  situation  could  be  more  desolate  and  heart- 
sinking  than  this  ?  Imprisoned  among  savage  moun- 
tains, perched  in  a  wild  rock  far  above  the  rest  of  mankind, 
separated  from  human  help  by  an  impassable  torrent, 
cold,  hungry,  and  exhausted  ;  yet  all  these  dejecting 
circumstances  were  unheeded  by  the  hardy  mountaineer. 
He  had  but  one  source  of  terror  :  the  otter-hunter  had 
often  described  this  glen  as  a  favourite  haunt  of  fairies  ; 
and  **  what  would  become  of  him  if  the  gentle- people 
caught  him  there  ?  " 

The  midnight  hour  passed,  however,  without  any 
supernatural  visitation.  No  fairy  revelry  disturbed  the 
peasant's  slumbers  ;  the  rain  ceased  ;  the  flood  was 
falling  ;  the  chough  and  raven  were  preparing  to  take 
wing  ;  and  while  the  first  faint  light  was  breaking  through 
the  mountain  mists,  Cormac,  anxious  to  quit  his  cheerless 
bivouac,  crawled  out  from  his  cold  retreat. 

Suddenly,  from  above,  an  indistinct  noise  alarmed 
him.  Feet  clattered  down  the  rocky  path  ;  a  rush, 
a  snorting,  announced  their  near  approach,  and  a  herd 
of   deer    appeared    within    half   a    stone's    cast.     They 


102  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

traversed  the  narrow  track  in  single  files,  and  were  moving 
rapidly  down  the  mountain  side  to  browse  in  the  glen 
beneath. 

When  the  leading  stag  discovered  the  startled  peasant, 
he  halted,  tossed  his  antlers  wildly,  and  gave  a  loud 
and  peculiar  neigh.  The  pause,  though  momentary, 
permitted  the  rear  to  come  up,  and  the  herd  were 
clustered  in  a  group.  The  panic  lasted  but  an  instant : 
they  turned  round,  and  with  amazing  speed  rushed 
up  the  hill,  regained  the  heights,  and  were  lost  in  the 
thick  mist.  Cormac  could  not  reckon  them  accurately, 
but  imagined  their  number  to  be  about  sixteen. 

It  is  seldom,  now,  that  the  red  deer  are  seen  in  herds. 
Within  late  years  they  have  diminished  sadly,  and 
unless  vigorous  means  are  promptly  adopted  to  prevent 
their  destruction  by  poachers,  like  their  ancient  enemy, 
the  rough  Irish  greyhound,  they,  too,  will  become 
extinct.  My  cousin,  when  a  boy,  has  often  met  forty 
deer  herded  together ;  but,  from  their  decreased 
numbers,  one  rarely  sees  now  more  than  a  few  brace. 
Since  the  French  descent  upon  this  coast  in  Ninety- 
eight,  their  destruction  has  been  rapid.  Unfortunately, 
many  of  the  fire-arms  then  distributed  among  the 
peasantry  remain  in  their  possession  still,  and  in  the 
winter  months,  when  the  severity  of  the  season  forces 
the  deer  to  leave  the  hills  and  seek  food  and  shelter 
in  the  valleys,  idle  ruffians,  too  well  acquainted  with  the 
passes  of  the  mountains,  take  that  opportunity  to 
surprise  and  slaughter  them. 

There  are  many  circumstances  connected  with  this 
scarce  and  beautiful  species  that  should  render  their 
preservation  a  matter  of  national  interest.  They  are  the 
last  relic  of  other  times  ;    and  all  besides  of  the  once 


RED   DEER.  IO3 

famed  stock  which  tenanted  the  Irish  forests  have 
disappeared.  The  wolf,  the  morse-deer,  the  Irish 
greyhound,  exist  no  longer  ;  and  this  noble  creature  is 
the  sole  remnant  of  her  aboriginal  animals,  when  Ireland 
was  in  her  wild  and  independent  condition. 

Individual  exertions  to  continue  the  red  deer  are  found 
to  be  of  little  use.  They  seldom  breed  when  deprived 
of  liberty,  and  restricted  to  the  enclosures  of  a  park. 
If  they  do,  the  offspring  degenerates,  and  the  produce 
is  very  inferior  in  size  to  what  it  would  have  been,  had 
the  animal  remained  in  its  state  of  natural  freedom. 
Even  when  taken  young  in  the  mountains,  to  rear  the 
fawns  is  a  difficult  and  uncertain  task.  My  cousin  has, 
for  many  seasons,  made  the  attempt,  and  generally 
failed  three  times  for  once  that  he  succeeded.  Last 
year  one  young  deer  that  he  procured  throve  well  and 
grew  apace  until  he  was  sufficiently  stout  to  go  out  and 
graze  with  thq  cows.  Unfortunately,  a  visitor  brought 
a  savage-tempered  greyhound  to  the  Lodge,  the  dog 
attacked  the  fawn,  and  it  died  of  the  worrying  it  received 
before  the  greyhound  could  be  taken  off. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  procure  the  fawns  from  the 
mountains  in  an  uninjured  state.  They  generally 
receive  a  blow  of  a  stick  or  stone  from  the  captor,  or 
undergo  such  rough  usage  in  conveying  them  to  the 
low-lands  that  death  commonly  ensues.  A  fine,  well- 
grown  male  was  brought  to  the  Lodge  last  week.  For 
a  day  or  two  nothing  could  be  more  promising  than  its 
appearance.  It  began,  however,  on  the  fourth  morning 
to  pine  away,  and  soon  after  died.  We  opened  it  to 
ascertain,  if  possible,  the  cause  of  its  death,  and  dis- 
covered a  gangrened  wound  in  the  side,  evidently 
produced  by  a  blow.     The  peasant  who  brought  him 


104 


WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 


declared  that  he  was  sound  and  uninjured  ;  and  to 
account  for  his  caption  swore  lustily  that  he  caught  the 
fawn  asleep^  but  it  appeared  that  the  rogue  had  knocked 
the  poor  animal  over  with  a  stone,  and  thus  produced 
the  inward  bruise  which  terminated  fatally. 

It  is  strange  that  a  creature  of  such  strength  and 
endurance  when  arrived  at  maturity  should  be  so 
very  difficult  to  bring  up.  Means  were  resorted  to  by 
my  kinsman  to  have  the  cow's  assimilated  to  the  wild 
deer's  milk,  by  changing  the  fawn's  nurse  to  a  healthier 
and  poorer  pasturage  ;  a  lichen,  indigenous  to  the  moun- 
tains on  which  the  deer  principally  feeds,  was  also 
procured,  and  intermixed  with  the  cow's  hay  ;  and  yet 
this  attention  and  trouble  were  attended  with  but  indif- 
ferent success. 

When  once,  however,  the  period  of  infancy  is  passed, 
the  wild  deer  is  hardy,  vigorous,  and  easily  provided 
for.  At  different  times  many  have  been  located  in 
the  neighbouring  parks,  and  lived  there  to  a  great  age. 
In  the  domain  of  a  nobleman  in  Roscommon  there  are 
several  brace — and  in  the  park  of  Clogher  a  stag  and 
hind  are  confined  at  present ;  they  are  all  vigorous 
and  healthy,  but  have  never  continued  their  species. 

Many  curious  anecdotes  are  recorded  of  the  red  deer. 
Some  years  since  a  hind  was  domesticated  by  a  neigh- 
bouring baronet.  It  was  a  fine  and  playful  animal,  and 
gave  many  proofs  of  extraordinary  sagacity.  Like  many 
fairer  favourites,  she  was  a  very  troublesome  one,  and, 
from  her  cunning  and  activity,  a  sad  torment  to  the 
gardener.  No  fences  would  exclude  her  from  the 
shrubberies,  and  if  the  garden  gates  were  for  a  moment 
insecure,  the  hind  was  sure  to  discover  the  neglect, 
and  avail  herself  of  the  opportunity  to  taste  the  choicest 


RED   DEER.  I05 

vegetables.  This  beautiful  but  mischievous  pet  met 
with  some  accidental  injury,  and  died,  to  the  great 
regret  of  her  proprietor. 

Many  years  ago,  a  stag  was  in  the  possession  of  a 
gentleman  of  Tyrawley.  He  grew  to  be  a  powerful 
and  splendid  beast,  but  his  propensities  and  disposi- 
tions were  very  different  to  those  of  the  playful  and 
innocent  hind. 

The  stag  was  bold  and  violent,  detested  strangers 
and  women,  and  from  his  enormous  size  and  strength, 
was  frequently  a  very  dangerous  playfellow.  He  had 
a  particular  fancy  for  horses,  resided  mostly  in  the 
stable,  and  when  the  carriage  was  ordered  to  the  door, 
if  permitted,  he  would  accompany  it.  A  curious  anec- 
dote is  told  of  him.  He  had  no  objection  whatever  to 
allow  a  gentleman  to  enter  the  coach  ;  but  to  the  fair 
sex  he  had  an  unconquerable  aversion,  and  with  his 
consent  no  lady  should  be  an  inside  passenger.  The 
servants  were  obliged  to  drive  him  away  before  their 
mistress  could  venture  to  appear;  and  at  last,  he  became  so 
troublesome  and  unsafe,  as  to  render  his  banishment  to 
an  adjoining  deer-park  the  necessary  punishment  of  his 
indocility.  He  did  not  survive  this  disgrace  long ; 
he  pined  away  rapidly,  avoided  the  fallow  deer,  and 
died,  as  my  informant  declared,  of  a  broken  heart. 

In  killing  deer,  it  is  necessary  to  select  the  head,  or 
aim  directly  behind  the  shoulder.  A  body  wound 
may  eventually  destroy  the  animal,  but  the  chances  are, 
that  he  will  carry  off  the  ball.  Many,  when  severely 
struck,  escape  the  shooter  ;  and  there  have  been  stags 
killed  in  these  mountains,  who  bore  the  marks  of 
severe  wounds,  from  the  effects  of  which  they  had 
entirely  recovered.     The  following  singular  and  authentic 


I06  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

instance  of  a  bullet  lodging  in  what  is  usually  con- 
sidered a  mortal  place,  and  failing  to  occasion  death, 
is  extracted  from  a  scientific  periodical.* 

"  A  buck,  that  was  remarkably  fat  and  healthy  in 
condition,  in  August,  1816,  was  killed  in  Bradbury  Park, 
and  on  opening  him,  it  was  discovered,  that  at  some 
distant  time  he  had  been  shot  in  the  heart,  a  ball  being 
found  in  a  cyst  in  the  substance  of  that  viscus,  about 
two  inches  from  the  apex.     The  surface  of  the  cyst 
had  a  whitish  appearance  ;  the  ball  weighed  two  hundred 
and    ninety-two    grains,    and    was    quite    flat.       Mr. 
Richardson,  the  park-keeper,  who  opened  the  animal, 
is  of  opinion  the  ball  had  struck  some  hard  substance 
before  entering  the  body  of  the  deer.     That  the  animal 
should  subsist  long  after  receiving  this  ball,  is  endea- 
voured to  be  accounted  for  from  the  instance  of  a  soldier, 
who  survived  forty-nine  hours  after  receiving  a  bayonet 
wound   in  the  heart :    however,  the  recovery  from  a 
gun-shot  wound  in  an  animal  inferior  to  man  can,  in 
no  respect,  materially  alter  the  importance  of  the  fact, 
and  of  the  great  extent  to  which  this  vital  organ  may 
sustain  injury  from  external  violence." 
*  The  Edinburgh  Medical  Journal, 


A  BLANK  FISHING  DAY.  I07 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


A  CIRCUMSTANCE  to-day  has  given  us  considerable 
uneasiness  ;  one  of  our  best  setters,  who  had  been 
observed  to  look  rather  dull  yesterday,  has  refused  his 
food,  and  continues  listless  of  what  is  passing  around 
him.  He  was  a  sprightly,  active-minded  dog,  and  his 
torpidness  is  alarming.  We  promptly  separated  him 
from  his  companions,  and  have  chained  him  in  an 
adjoining  cabin,  under  the  especial  observation  of 
old  Antony.  The  otter-killer  is  preparing  to  use  his 
leech-craft,  and  I  trust  with  good  effect.  Canine 
madness  is  a  frightful  visitation,  and  no  caution  can 
be  too  strict  to  guard  against  its  melancholy  conse- 
quences. 

Who  shall  say  that  success  in  angling  can  be  calcu- 
lated upon  with  anything  like  certainty  ?  If  a  man 
were  gifted  with  the  properties  of  a  walking  barometer, 
the  weather  of  this  most  capricious  comer  of  the  earth 
would  set  his  prognostics  at  defiance.  Never  did  a 
morning  look  more  favourable  ;  it  was  just  such  a  one 
as  an  angler  would  swear  by  ;  a  grey,  dark,  sober,  settled 
sky,  without  any  vexatious  glare  of  threatening  sun- 
shine to  interrupt  his  sport.  The  otter-killer  was  not 
so  sanguine  of  this  happy  promise  of  good  weather  as 
we  were.  He  observed  certain  little  clouds,  to  which 
he  gave  some  Irish  name.  "  The  wind,  too,  had  shifted 
a  point  southerly  since  daybreak,  and  the  pinkeens* 
were  jumping,  as  they  always  jump,  when  they  expect 
more  water."  We  laughed  at  him  ;  but  Antony  was 
right. 

*  The  usual  name  among  the  peasantry  for  samlets  and  trout  fry. 


Io8  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

We  tried  some  beautiful  pools  ;  the  fish  were  rising 
fast ;  they  sprang  over  the  surface  of  the  water  frequently, 
and  no  worse  omen  can  threaten  the  fishermen  with 
disappointment.  If  they  did  condescend  to  notice  our 
flies,  they  rose  as  if  they  wished  merely  to  reconnoitre 
them,  or  struck  at  them  scornfully  with  their  tails. 

Still  hoping  that  a  change  in  the  temper  of  the  fish 
— ^for  a  lady  is  not  more  fanciful — might  yet  crown  our 
efforts  with  success,  we  proceeded  down  the  river  and 
pushed  on  for  Pullgarrow.  To  angle  here  with  the  water 
clean  and  full,  and  the  wind  brisk  from  the  westward, 
would  almost  repay  a  pilgrimage.  For  its  extent,  there 
is  not  a  better  salmon  haunt  in  Christendom.  The 
fish  were  rising  in  dozens,  and  where  the  river  rushes 
into  the  neck  of  the  pool,  the  constant  breaking  of  the 
surface  by  the  rolling  or  springing  of  the  salmon,  was 
incredible  =  The  number  of  fish  collected  in  this  pool 
must  have  been  immense,  for  in  every  part  of  it  they  were 
rising  simultaneously  But  not  one  of  them  would  touch 
the  fly  I  hooked  a  salmon  accidentally  in  the  side, 
and  after  a  short  and  violent  struggle  the  hold  broke 
and  I  lost  him.  The  mode  of  fishing  attributed  by 
Sir  Humphry  Davy  to  the  Galway  fishermen  must  be 
as  unprofitable  as  unartistlike.  If  ever  it  could  avail, 
we  should  have  succeeded  to-day  in  Pullgarrow. 

Meanwhile  the  breeze  gradually  died  away,  or  came 
in  gusts  from  the  south  ;  the  sky  in  the  same  quarter 
grew  thick  and  misty  ;  large  drops  fell,  and  in  a  short 
time  the  rain  came  down  in  torrents.  The  reason 
why  the  salmon  had  declined  our  flies  was  now  dis- 
closed ;  although  we  had  not  foreseen  the  coming  change, 
the  fish  had  evidently  expected  it.  Wearied  and 
drenched,  we  returned  to  our  shooting  quarters.     But 


A   BLANK   FISHING   DAY.  IO9 

we  Speedily  forgot  our  fatigue  and  disappointment. 
Antony's  report  of  the  health  of  his  canine  patient  was 
satisfactory.  The  animal's  stomach  had  been  dis- 
ordered, and  the  otter-hunter's  remedies  were  promptly 
administered,  and  successful.  My  cousin  had  a  dread 
of  madness  breaking  out  in  his  kennel  ;  and  from  his 
melancholy  experience  of  the  fearful  consequences  of 
neglect,  I  do  not  marvel  that  on  the  first  symptom  of 
loss  of  appetite  or  abated  spirits,  he  forthwith  causes 
the  suspected  dog  to  be  removed,  and  places  him  under 
a  strict  surveillance. 

Our  conversation  after  dinner  naturally  turned  upon 
the  indisposition  of  the  setter. — '*  You  may  think,  my 
dear  Frank,"  said  my  cousin,  "  that  I  carry  my  appre- 
hensions of  the  slightest  illness  in  my  dogs  to  a  ridiculous 
and  unnecessary  length  ;  but  when  I  tell  you  that  I 
have  witnessed  the  fatal  course  of  hydrophobia,  in  the 
human  as  well  as  the  brute  victim,  you  may  then  con- 
ceive the  horror  I  feel  when  anything  recalls  to  my 
memory  this  hopeless  malady. 

"  During  my  first  season  at  the  Dublin  University, 
I  was  invited  to  pass  a  short  vacation  with  a  relative  of 
my  mother.  He  lived  in  the  south  of  Ireland,  in  an 
ancient  family  mansion-house,  situated  in  the  mountains, 
and  at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  mail-coach 
road. 

"  This  gentleman  was  many  years  older  than  I.  He 
had  an  only  sister,  a  girl  of  sixteen,  beautiful  and  accom- 
plished ;  at  the  period  of  my  visit  she  was  still  at  school , 
but  was  to  finally  leave  it,  as  my  host  informed  me, 
at  Midsummer. 

**  Never  was  there  a  more  perfect  specimen  of  primi- 
tive Milesian  life,  than  that  which  the  domicile  of  my 


no  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

worthy  relative  exhibited.  The  house  was  enormously 
large — half  ruinous — and  all,  within  and  without,  wild, 
rackety,  and  irregular.  There  was  a  troop  of  idle  and 
slatternly  servants  of  both  sexes,  distracting  every  part 
of  the  establishment :  and  a  pack  of  useless  dogs 
infesting  the  premises,  and  crossing  you  at  every  turn. 
Between  the  biped  and  quadruped  nuisances  an  eternal 
war  was  carried  on,  and  not  an  hour  of  the  day  elapsed, 
but  a  canine  outcry  announced  that  some  of  those 
unhappy  curs  were  being  ejected  by  the  butler,  or 
pelted  by  the  cook. 

"  So  common-place  was  this  everlasting  uproar, 
that  after  a  few  days  I  almost  ceased  to  notice  it.  I 
was  dressing  for  dinner,  when  the  noise  of  dogs  quarrel- 
ling in  the  yard,  brought  me  to  the  window  ;  a  terrier 
was  being  worried  by  a  rough,  savage-looking  fox- 
hound, whom  I  had  before  this  noticed  and  avoided. 
At  the  moment  my  host  was  crossing  from  the  stable  ; 
he  struck  the  hound  with  his  whip,  but,  regardless  of 
the  blow,  he  continued  his  attack  upon  the  smaller 
dog.  The  old  butler,  in  coming  from  the  garden, 
observed  the  dogs  fighting,  and  stopped  to  assist  in 
separating  them.  Just  then,  the  brute  quitted  the 
terrier,  seized  the  master  by  the  leg,  and  cut  the  servant 
in  the  hand.  A  groom  rushed  out  on  hearing  the 
uproar,  struck  the  prongs  of  a  pitchfork  through  the  dog's 
body,  and  killed  him  on  the  spot.  This  scene  occurred 
in  less  time  than  I  have  taken  in  relating  it. 

"  I  hastened  from  my  dressing-room  ;  my  host  had 
bared  his  leg,  and  was  washing  the  wound,  which  was 
a  jagged  tear  from  the  hound's  tooth.  Part  of  the 
skin  was  loose,  and  a  sudden  thought  appeared  to  strike 
him.     He  desired  an  iron  to  be  heated  ;    took  a  sharp 


A  BLANK    FISHING    DAY.  Ill 

penknife  from  his  pocket,  coolly  and  effectually  removed 
the  ragged  flesh,  and,  regardless  of  the  agony  it  occa- 
sioned, with  amazing  determination,  cauterized  the 
wound  severely. 

"  The  old  butler,  however,  contented  himself  with 
binding  up  his  bleeding  hand.  He  endeavoured  to 
dissuade  his  master  from  undergoing  what  he  considered 
to  be  unnecessary  pain.  '  The  dog  was  dead^  sure,  and 
that  was  quite  sufficient  to  prevent  any  danger  arising 
from  the  bite ' ;  and,  satisfied  with  this  precaution, 
he  remained  indifferent  to  future  consequences  and  in 
perfect  confidence  that  no  ulterior  injury  could  occur 
from  the  wound. 

"  Three  months  passed  away — my  friend's  sister  was 
returning  from  school — and,  as  the  mountain  road  was 
in  bad  repair,  and  a  bridge  had  been  swept  away  by  the 
floods,  saddle-horses  were  sent  to  meet  the  carriage. 
The  old  butler,  who  had  some  private  affairs  to  transact 
in  the  neighbouring  town,  volunteered  to  be  the  escort 
of  his  young  mistress,  and  obtained  permission. 

"  That  there  was  something  unusual  in  the  look  and 
manner  of  her  attendant,  was  quickly  remarked  by  the 
lady.  His  address  was  wild  and  hurried,  and  some 
extraordinary  feelings  appeared  to  agitate  him.  To 
an  inquiry  if  he  was  unwell,  he  returned  a  vague  and 
unmeaning  answer  ;  he  trembled  violently  when  assist- 
ing her  on  horseback,  and  it  was  evident  that  some 
strange  and  fearful  sensations  disturbed  him. 

"  They  rode  some  miles  rapidly,  until  they  reached 
the  rivulet  where  the  bridge  had  been  carried  off  by  the 
flood.  To  cross  the  stream  was  no  way  difficult,  as  the 
water  barely  covered  the  horse's  fetlock.  The  lady 
had  ridden  through  the   water,  when  a  thrilling  cry 


112  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

of  indescribable  agony  from  her  attendant  arrested  her. 
Her  servant  was  on  the  opposite  side,  endeavouring  to 
rein  in  his  unwilling  horse,  and  in  his  face  there  was  a 
horrible  and  convulsed  look  that  terrified  his  alarmed 
mistress.  To  her  anxious  questions,  he  only  replied 
by  groans,  which  too  truly  betrayed  his  sufferings ; 
at  last  he  pointed  to  the  stream  before  him,  and 
exclaimed,  */  cannot,  dare  not,  cross  it!  Oh,  God  I 
I  am  lost ! — the  dog — the  dog  I  * 

"  What  situation  could  be  more  frightful  than  that 
in  which  the  lady  found  herself  ?  In  the  centre  of  a 
desolate  and  unpeopled  moor,  far  from  assistance,  and 
left  alone  with  a  person  afflicted  with  decided  madness. 
She  might,  it  is  true,  have  abandoned  him  ;  for  the 
terrors  of  the  poor  wretch  would  have  prevented  him 
from  crossing  the  rivulet ;  but,  with  extraordinary 
courage,  she  returned,  seized  the  bridle  fearlessly,  and, 
notwithstanding  the  outcries  of  the  unhappy  man, 
forced  his  horse  through  the  water,  and  never  left  his 
side,  until  she  fortunately  overtook  some  tenants  of 
her  brother  returning  from  a  neighbouring  fair. 

"  I  arrived  on  a  visit  the  third  evening  after  this 
occurrence,  and  the  recollection  of  that  poor  old  man's 
sufferings  has  ever  since  haunted  my  memory.  All  that 
medical  skill  and  affectionate  attention  on  his  master's 
part  could  do  to  assuage  his  pain,  and  mitigate  the 
agonies  he  occasionally  underwent,  was  done.  At 
length,  the  moment  that  was  devoutly  prayed  for  came. 
He  died  on  the  sixth  morning. 

"  From  this  horrible  fate  nothing  but  his  own  deter- 
mination preserved  my  relative  :  and,  by  the  timely 
use  of  a  painful  remedy,  excision  and  cautery  of  the 
wound,  he  escaped  this  dreadful  disease. 


A   BLANK   FISHING    DAY.  II3 

"  I  have  related  the  calamity  of  another  ;  but  I, 
too,  have  been  a  sufferer,  although,  thank  God  !  not 
in  person. 

**  A  setter  of  uncommon  beauty  was  presented  to  me 
by  a  gentleman  under  peculiar  circumstances.  He 
had  been  the  favourite  companion  of  his  deceased  wife  ; 
and,  during  her  long  and  hopeless  illness  had  seldom 
left  her  chamber.  He  begged  me  to  allow  him  a  place 
in  the  Lodge,  and  not  subject  him  to  the  restraint  of 
the  kennel.  His  wishes  were  obeyed,  and  Carlo  was 
duly  installed  into  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  a  carpet- 
dog. 

"  I  left  home  on  a  shooting- visit,  and,  luckily,  brought 
a  brace  of  my  best  setters  with  me.  A  week  after  my 
departure,  an  express  reached  me  to  say  that  Carlo 
'  was  very  odd,  would  not  eat,  and  bit  and  worried 
every  dog  he  met  with.'  I  took  alarm  instantly,  and 
returned  home  without  delay.  I  found  the  household 
in  desperate  alarm,  and  Carlo  was  confined  in  a  separate 
out-house,  but  not  until  he  had  worried  and  torn  every 
dog  in  my  possession  ! 

"  I  went  to  reconnoitre  him  through  an  iron-stan- 
chioned window  :  he  was  in  the  last  and  frightfullest 
stage  of  confirmed  hydrophobia.  I  sent  for  a  rifle  and 
terminated  the  animal's  life. 

"  I  was  at  first  afraid  to  inquire  into  the  extent  of  my 
calamity.  I  mustered  courage  to  enter  the  kennel,  and 
personally  investigated  the  state  of  my  dogs.  Every 
one  of  them,  ten  in  number,  had  been  bitten,  and  several 
of  them  were  fearfully  mutilated  by  the  rabid  animal 
I  had  despatched.  Even  the  terriers  had  not  escaped  ; 
and  they,  poor  animals  !  were  necessarily  included 
in  the  general  order  for  execution  that  I  issued  to  the 

I 


114  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

keeper.  That  noble  house-dog,  who  has  been  the 
subject  of  your  admiration,  was,  fortunately,  preserved, 
by  having  been  sent  for  by  a  gentleman  who  resided 
in  the  next  county. 

"  A  most  extraordinary  insensibility  to  danger  was 
evinced  by  the  female  members  of  my  household. 
Unluckily,  Antony  was  absent  in  the  mountains,  setting 
a  broken  bone  ;  the  keeper  had  accompanied  me  ;  every 
one  acquainted  with  the  habits  and  management  of  dogs 
was  from  home  ;  and  the  kennel  was  entrusted  to  the 
kitchen-boy.  On  this  occasion  the  disease  appears  to 
have  come  on  gradually,  and  for  days  the  setter  betrayed 
the  customary  signs  of  incipient  madness.  Had  he 
been  tied  up  even  when  the  malady  was  fully  established, 
no  mischief  might  have  resulted.  But  until  his  violence 
became  frightful,  he  was  actually  permitted  to  run 
about  the  house,  and  got  access  to  the  kennel,  while 
the  boy  was  carrying  food  to  his  charge. 

**  The  escape  of  the  servants  was  miraculous.  The 
day  only  before  my  arrival,  the  dog,  in  a  paroxysm  of 
suffering,  had  thrown  himself  across  the  fireplace. 
'  Come  away  from  that,  Biddy,'  said  the  old  cook,  with 
perfect  nonchalance^  to  her  attendant :  *  DonH  ye  see 
the  dog  is  mad  ?  '  and  continued  some  culinary  operation, 
in  which,  at  a  distant  corner  of  the  kitchen,  she  was 
engaged.  The  boy's  preservation  was  unaccountable. 
The  poor  lad  made  many  unavailing  efforts  to  part  the 
dogs  when  fighting  in  the  kennel,  and  prevent  the  setters 
from  being  bitten.  In  this  perilous  attempt  his  clothes 
were  literally  torn  to  ribbons  ;  but,  fortunately  for 
himself,  there  was  not  a  scratch  visible  on  his  skin." 


VISITING   ACHIL.  II5 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

For  three  days  it  has  continued  raining  and  blowing 
violently.  We  fortunately  abandoned  the  mountain 
hut,  on  noticing  the  unpromising  aspect  of  the  vi^eather, 
before  the  flood  rose  to  a  height  that  would  have  insu- 
lated us  in  the  hills.  We  have  determined  on  an  excur- 
sion into  Achil,  and  wait  impatiently  until  the  wind 
and  clouds  give  some  indication  of  amendment.  The 
moon  enters  her  second  quarter  to-night,  and  we  trust 
her  ladyship's  influence  may  mitigate  the  unusual 
severity  of  the  weather. 

This  morning  my  servant's  report  was  favourable  ; 
the  sky  looked  settled,  the  wind  blew  from  the  north- 
west, and  old  Antony  was  satisfied  with  the  prognostics. 
My  cousin  was  already  a-foot,  and  his  voice  at  my 
window  loudly  summoned  me  to  "  turn-out."  I  opened 
the  curtains — the  sun  was  shining  as  if  he  intended 
to  keep  a  fair  face  throughout  the  day,  and  there  was  a 
cheerful  bustle  in  front  of  the  Lodge  which  gave  "  note 
of  preparation."  The  main-sail  of  the  hooker  was 
already  chalk  up  and  shivering  in  the  morning  breeze  ; 
and  the  boat  men,  sitting  on  the  grass  before  the  window, 
were  preparing  lines  and  baiting  spillets.  The  piper 
looked  on,  stretching  one  arm  lazily  out,  while  with  the 
other  he  hitched  up  the  waistband  of  his  unmentionables  ; 
and  frequent  visits  of  the  dog-boy  to  the  kennel  showed 
that  both  bipeds  and  quadrupeds  would  be  shortly  in 
requisition.  Hammocks,  hampers,  and  gun-cases,  were 
subsequently  embarked,  and  about  eight  o'clock  we  had 
finished  our  dejeuner  and  committed  our  persons  and 
fortunes  to  the  waves. 


Il6  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

Never  was  there  a  lovelier  day  or  wilder  scenery  ;  after 
we  had  cleared  the  river  and  opened  the  bay,  a  view  of 
surpassing  grandeur  was  presented.  We  were  sur- 
rounded on  every  side  by  an  amphitheatre  of  bold  and 
endless  hills,  except  where  the  opening  to  the  Atlantic 
showed  us  the  dark  waters  of  a  boundless  ocean — 
the  surface  was  clear  and  undisturbed — and  the  light 
breeze  rippled  the  long  and  measured  undulations 
from  the  sea,  and  bore  us  gently  towards  the  island. 
The  bay  was  filled  with  mackerel,  and  consequently 
it  was  crowded  with  sea-fowl.  In  clamorous  groups 
the  gulls  were  darting  on  the  fish  below,  and  an  endless 
variety  of  puffins  and  cormorants  were  incessant  in 
pursuit  of  the  smaller  fry,  which  had  attracted  the 
shoals  of  mackerel  from  the  deep.  But  the  wind  was 
too  scanty,  and  the  hooker's  sailing  not  sufficiently  fast, 
to  allow  us  to  kill  fish  in  any  quantity.  We  occasionally, 
however,  caught  a  mackerel,  and  shot,  among  a  number  of 
water-fowls,  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  sea-hawk, 
which  I  shall  endeavour  to  preserve. 

We  had  gradually  neared  Dugurth,  which  is  the  only 
spot  on  which,  for  many  miles  a  boat,  even  in  moderate 
weather,  can  safely  effect  a  landing,  when  a  galley  stood 
out  of  Elly  bay  and  bore  down  upon  us.  Our  courses 
nearly  crossed  :  they  were  running  off  the  wind,  we 
close-hauled  as  possible.  Nothing  could  be  mor^ 
picturesque  than  the  light  and  elegant  appearance  of 
this  "  fairy  frigate."  At  a  little  distance  she  seemed 
a  cloud  of  canvas  flitting  across  the  sea,  for  the  long, 
low  hull  was  not  visible  until  her  close  approach  revealed 
it.  Her  large  lugs  and  top-sails  were  of  the  whitest 
duck,  and  as  all  her  sails  drew,  light  as  the  breeze  was, 
she  passed  us  with  the  velocity  of  a  race-horse.     The 


VISITING    ACHIL.  II7 

airy  motion  of  this  "  light  shalloop  **  as  she  glided 
through  the  water,  might,  to  the  fancy  of  a  poet,  present 
a  similitude  of  that  imaginary  bark  in  which  the  spirits 
of  departed  mariners  are  seen  flitting  over  the  dark 
billows   beneath  which  their  bodies  rest. 

Having  weathered  the  Ridge  Point,  we  made  a  signal 
for  a  rowing-boat,  and  one  immediately  came  off.  Our 
boatmen,  having  ascertained  by  their  landmarks  that 
they  were  upon  clean  ground,  prepared  to  shoot  their 
spillets.  We  left  them,  taking  with  us  our  dogs  and 
attendants,  and  landed  on  a  small,  sandy  beach. 

Having  established  our  head- quarters  in  the  watch- 
house  of  the  coast-guard,  and  procured  an  adjoining 
cabin  for  the  suite,  we  set  out  to  look  for  grouse,  taking 
a  westerly  direction  along  the  base  of  Slieve  More. 
Deceived  by  the  false  report  of  the  villagers,  we  found 
the  beat  we  had  chosen  neither  a  pleasant  nor  produc- 
tive one.  The  heath  was  short  and  withered,  the  side 
of  the  mountain  unsheltered,  and  exposed  to  the  severe 
and  almost  eternal  west  vdnd  :  and,  with  the  exception 
of  a  very  few  banks  beside  the  water-courses,  and  one 
or  two  natural  ravines,  there  was  not  a  spot  in  which  a 
grouse  could  shelter.  In  these  hollows  we  generally 
found  a  stager ^^  and  in  one  rugged  dell  shot  three  old 
cocks.  Contrary  to  their  general  caution  they  stood 
the  dogs  well,  or,  from  the  short  cover  and  stunted 
heath,  had  the  weather  been  wet  and  the  birds  wary, 
it  would  have  been  almost  impossible  to  have  approached 
them.  Against  running  after  grouse  I  uplift  my  voice. 
If  they  are  wild,  and  will  not  stand  or  sit,  a  commonplace 
occurrence  in  wet,  cold  weather,  I  would  recommend 
gentlemen  to  remain  at  home.     If  circumstances  bring 

*  An  old  cock  grouse  which  has  not  paired. 


Il8  WILD   SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

them  to  the  moors,  or  they  are  particularly  solicited 
(as  I  have  often  been)  to  procure  birds  let  them  depend 
on  close-markings  tie  up  every  dog  but  the  steadiest 
one,  and  quietly,  patiently,  and  silently  endeavour 
to  come  within  range  of  their  object.  If  the  bird  moves, 
then  to  out- flank  him  is  the  best  chance.  Take  a  con- 
siderable circuit,  and  the  more  apparent  carelessness 
you  show  in  striving  to  close  with  a  wild  grouse,  the 
more  likely  you  will  be  to  succeed.  If  the  bird  observes 
any  hurry  in  the  approach  of  the  shooter,  he  will  take 
alarm  instantly,  and  an  immediate  flight  will  show 
that  he  has  been  perfectly  on  the  qui-vive.  The  peasants, 
while  looking  after  cattle  and  cutting  peats  upon  the 
hill,  had  frequently  disturbed  those  solitary  birds, 
and  concluded,  from  meeting  them  so  often,  that  there 
must  be  some  packs  convenient. 

Too  late  we  found  out  our  error  ;  it  was  four  o'clock, 
and  we  determined  to  abandon  the  heath  for  the  day  ; 
and,  having  from  a  high  ground  examined  the  interior 
of  the  island,  we  arranged  to-morrow's  beat  accordingly. 

Quitting  the  hill,  we  walked  for  a  mile  along  the  beach 
to  some  bent  banks,  where  we  were  told  that  rabbits 
were  abundant.  In  an  hour  we  shot  eight  pair,  and  two 
couple  of  whimbrels  ;  and  perceiving  that  the  hooker 
had  anchored  off  the  landing-place,  we  gave  up  shooting 
and  returned  to  the  watch-house. 

In  our  absence  the  servants  had  been  active  ;  they 
slung  our  hammocks,  and  made  the  necessary  prepara- 
tions for  cooking  dinner.  The  chief  officer  of  the  coast- 
guard kindly  gave  us  his  own  apartment.  His  little 
cabin  was  crowded  with  every  necessary  requisite  for 
one  so  far  removed  from  the  civilized  portion  of  man- 
kind, and  it  was  amusing  to  remark  the  ingenuity  with 


VISITING   ACHIL.  II9 

which  the  occupier  had  arranged  his  numerous  goods 
and  chattels  ;  nothing  could  exceed  the  cleanliness 
of  his  cottage,  and  it  formed  a  striking  contrast  to  the 
filth  and  misery  of  the  surrounding  hovels. 

The  boatmen  were  just  landing  in  their  punt,  and  we 
descended  to  the  beach  to  ascertain  what  addition  to 
our  cuisine  the  spillets  had  afforded.  They  produced 
a  pair  of  fine  soles,  and  a  score  of  large  plaice.  These, 
with  the  mackerel  taken  in  the  morning,  supplied  the 
fish  department  admirably.  Our  purveyor  had  pur- 
chased a  Keim  sheep^  ;  and  at  six  o'clock  we  v/ent  to 
dinner.  Nothing  could  be  more  delicious  than  our 
fare  ; — fish  transferred  from  the  sea  to  the  kettle,  and 
diminutive  mutton,  whose  only  fault  was  excessive 
fatness.  We  had  a  grouse,  too,  one  of  our  stagers, 
but  it  was  coarse  and  flavourless  ;  and  if  toughness 
be  a  test  of  years,  I  should  set  him  down  as  coeval  with 
Saint  Patrick. 

The  host  joined  us  after  dinner,  and  presented  us 
with  a  bottle  of  genuine  Inniskea.  If  such  be  the 
customary  produce  of  their  stills,  those  gifted  islanders 
are  worthy  of  being  canonized.  Although  our  host's 
flask  was  a  true  Hollander,  having  an  amplitude  of  bottom 
that  would  have  put  two  degenerate  wine-bottles  to  the 
blush,  I  regret  to  say  such  unyielding  thirst  beset  us, 
that  before  any  of  the  company  sought  a  hammock,  the 
honest  Dutchman  was  left  without  a  drop  ! 

We  were  astir  betimes  next  morning.  It  was  an 
excellent  shooting-day  ;  a  brisk  breeze  had  sprung  up 
with  the  first  of  flood,  and  the  fog,  rising  gradually  up 
the  mountain-side,  cleared  the  summit  of  Slieve  More, 

*  Keim  is  a  mountain  district  of  Achil,  celebrated  for  the  flavour 
and  fatness  of  its  sheep. 


120  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

leaving  its  rugged  pinnacle — a  disordered  mass  of 
shivered  granite— sparkling  in  the  sunshine.  Our  dogs 
were  in  beautiful  condition  ;  and  we  were  gratified  to 
hear  from  a  water-guard  patrol,  that,  but  an  hour  before, 
he  had  sprung  a  strong  pack  of  birds  on  our  purposed 
beat. 

But,  alas  !  the  departed  Dutchman  had  left  us  certain 
twinges  in  the  head  to  make  us  recollect  him,  and  we 
felt  a  nervous  sensibility  that  was  anything  but  favour- 
able to  good  shooting.  An  immersion  in  the  sea  was 
recommended  as  a  certain  remedy,  and  our  host  con- 
ducted us  to  a  rock,  from  which  we  could  plunge  into 
water  four  fathoms  deep,  and  yet  clear  enough  to  enable 
us  to  observe  the  shells  and  pebbles  at  the  bottom. 
We  enjoyed  a  delightful  ablution,  returned  new  men 
to  the  watch-house,  and,  like  giants  refreshed,  prepared 
for  a  good  day's  fag. 

So  salutary  proved  our  bath,  that  we  breakfasted  as 
if  we  had  never  drained  a  Dutchman  in  our  lives.  The 
dogs  were  duly  coupled,  and  sundry  disengaged  gentle- 
men of  the  village,  whom  we  found  lounging  at  the  door, 
were  being  invested  with  shot  and  game  bags,  when, 
roused  by  an  exclamation  of  the  keeper,  we  witnessed 
a  curious  scene. 

In  a  huge  and  inaccessible  crag,  on  the  east  side  of 
Slieve  More,  and  immediately  above  the  coast-guard 
station,  the  eagles  had  formed  an  aerie  ; — a  fissure  in 
the  cliffs  beyond  the  possibility  of  being  disturbed  by 
the  approach  of  man,  afforded  these  birds,  for  many 
years,  a  secure  retreat.  Here,  annually,  they  pro- 
duced their  offspring,  to  the  sad  annoyance  of  the 
islanders,  and  more  particularly  the  villagers  of  Dugurth. 
This   morning   they   had   descended   from   their   rocky 


VISITING    ACHIL.  121 

habitation,  accompanied  by  two  eaglets,  evidently  to 
teach  their  young  to  stoop  and  lift  their  prey.*  The 
old  birds  tore  up  turfs  from  the  mountain  side,  rose  high 
in  the  air  and  dropped  them.  The  eaglets,  in  turn, 
stooped,  and  took  them  up  again.  This  was  frequently 
repeated,  and  the  course  of  instruction  having  lasted 
half-an-hour,  the  eagles  mounted  to  their  aerie,  and,  leav- 
ing their  progeny  safely  in  the  nest,  sailed  off  upon  the 
rising  breeze  to  provide  for  the  evening  meal.  We  viewed 
the  proceedings  of  this  predatory  family  through  the 
telescope  of  the  coast-guard,  who  gave  us  many  curious 
anecdotes  of  those  daring  and  destructive  birds. 

We  took  an  opposite  course  to  the  barren  beat  we  had 
yesterday  pursued.  The  bogs  were  intersected  by 
several  mountain-streams,  whose  dry  and  heathy  banks 
offered  excellent  feeding  and  shelter  for  grouse.  Our 
success,  however,  was  very  indifferent  to  what  we  had 
anticipated,  from  the  promising  appearance  of  the  ground, 
and  we  had  spent  an  hour,  hunting  with  two  brace  of 
prime  dogs,  before  we  saw  a  bird.  We  met  numerous 
indications  of  a  strong  pack  having  recently  visited 
the  river,  and  left  no  place  untried  which  birds  might 
be  expected  to  frequent.  At  last,  we  began  to  imagine 
that  the  eagles  had  been  here  before  us,  when  at  some 
distance  a  young  setter  dropped  on  a  heathy  brow  that 
overhung  the  rivulet.  We  were  advancing,  but  the  pack, 
alarmed  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  the  dog  above 
them,  took  wing,  and  we  had  to  content  ourselves  with 
reckoning   them,   as   they   got   up   bird   by   bird.     We 

*"  The  story  of  the  eagle  brought  to  the  ground,  after  a  severe 
conflict  with  a  cat,  which  it  had  seized  and  taken  up  into  the  air 
with  its  talons,  is  very  remarkable.  Mr.  Barber,  who  was  an  eye- 
witness of  the  fact,  made  a  drawing  of  it,  which  he  afterwards 
engraved." — Bewick. 


122  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

counted  nineteen,  and  concluded  that  two  broods  had 
packed  accidentally.*  They  all  pitched  in  a  scattered 
manner  on  the  side  of  a  neighbouring  eminence,  and 
having  marked  them  carefully  down,  we  took  up  one 
brace  of  dogs,  and  with  the  other  proceeded  quietly  to 
work.  I  never,  in  my  sporting  experience,  saw  a  pack 
disposed  of  in  better  style.  The  dogs  picked  up  the 
broken  birds  immediately,  and  with  one  miss  (mine  was 
the  deed  !)  we  brought  nine  brace  to  bag.  The  sole 
survivor  probably  waded  off  during  the  slaughter,  or 
threw  himself  into  a  hole  in  the  heath,  for  we  could  not 
make  him  out. 

From  our  opening  essay,  we  reckoned  that  this  would 
prove  an  exterminating  day ;  but,  with  the  des- 
truction of  this  pack  our  sport  might  be  said  to  cease. 
For  hours  we  traversed  hills  and  crossed  moors,  meeting 
but  one  weak  brood  and  a  few  stagers.  We  did 
find  another  brood,  but  the  poults  were  scarcely  able 
to  leave  the  ground,  and,  consequently,  were  too  weak 
for  shooting.  From  their  appearance,  we  concluded  them 
to  be  a  second  progeny  of  birds,  who  had  lost  their 
first  eggs  by  robbery  or  vermin.  We  met,  however, 
a  number  of  hares,  and  shot  seven.  These,  with  thirteen 
brace  of  grouse,  filled  the  game  bags. 

Our  course  homewards  lay  along  the  base  of  Slieve 
More.  The  evening  was  calm  and  sultry,  and  a  number^ 
of  men  and  women  of  all  ages  were  seated  on  the  rocks 
gaffing  the  horse-mackerel,  or  fishing  for  gunners,  which 
were  seen  in  numbers  on  the  surface  of  the  water. 
The  gunner  is  the  common  name  given  to  the  sea-bream 

*  I  have  never  known  red  grouse  flock  in  Ireland.  Excepting 
an  accidental  junction  of  two  broods,  I  have  not  met  with  grouse 
in  any  considerable  number.  Broods  will  occasionally  pack  together, 
but  it  is  not  a  common  occurrence. 


VISITING    ACHIL  1 23 

by  the  fishermen  of  the  western  coast.  They  are  found 
near  the  shore,  in  from  five  to  fifteen  fathom  water, 
where  the  bottom  is  foul  and  rocky.  The  gunners  are 
pretty  but  insipid  fish,  and  in  variety  of  colour  differ 
from  each  other  more  than  any  species  of  the  finny  tribe 
I  have  met  with.  In  size  they  seldom  exceed  three  or 
four  pounds  :  but  from  the  avidity  with  which  they 
bite,  they  afford  excellent  amusement  when  the  breeze 
is  not  sufficiently  stiff  to  allow  a  take  of  mackerel  and 
coal-fish.  The  bait  generally  used  for  gunners,  is  a 
small  crab,  broken  and  bound  about  the  hook  with  a 
thread,  and  two  hooks  affixed  to  a  trap-stick,  with  a 
light  leaden  plummet,  comprise  the  simple  apparatus 
requisite  for  this  kind  of  sea-fishing. 

This  rock-fishing  is  more  dangerous  than  productive, 
and  many  lives  have  been  lost  in  pursuing  it.  Descend- 
ing the  precipices  to  reach  the  water's  edge,  is  attended 
with  imminent  risk  :  and  as  sudden  and  terrible  swells 
come  in  frequently  and  unexpectedly  from  the  Atlantic, 
many  fishers  have  been  swept  off  the  rocks,  and  perished. 
Another  perilous  occupation  of  the  female  peasants 
is  what  they  term  "  picking  cranagh."  This  sea- weed, 
which  forms  a  favourite  esculent  of  the  islanders,  grows 
on  the  rocks  that  are  but  occasionally  covered  by  the  sea. 
Exposure  to  sudden  swells  from  the  ocean  attends 
those  who  search  for  it,  and  loss  of  life  has  too  often 
occurred. 

One  accident,  which  happened  not  long  since,  was 
truly  melancholy.  A  woman,  the  mother  of  several 
helpless  children,  and  who,  but  a  month  before,  had 
given  birth  to  twins,  perished  in  the  sight  of  her  family. 
No  relief  in  such  cases  can  be  given  :  the  reflux  of  these 
mountainous  waves  bears  the  victims  away,  and,  with 


124  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

rare  exceptions,  the  bodies  are  never  found,  as  they  are 
either  borne  out  to  sea,  or  entombed  in  one  of  the  many 
deep  caverns  with  which  the  bases  of  these  fearful 
precipices  are  perforated. 

We  reached  home  at  seven,  made  a  hasty  toilet,  and 
dined  sumptuously  from  mountain  mutton  and  a  fine 
John  Dory,  which  the  priest  had  sent  us  in  our  absence. 
Determined  to  eschew  temptation,  we  avoided  engaging 
a  fresh  Dutchman,  which  our  host  pressed  upon  us, 
and  put  in  a  quiet  evening.  After  smoking  a  cigar, 
discussing  its  necessary  association  of  schnaps  and 
water,  we  turned  into  our  hammocks  in  such  grave  and 
philosophic  moderation,  as  might  have  claimed  the 
approbation  of  Sir  Humphry,  and  entitled  us  to  a  place 
of  honour  in  any  Temperance  Society  in  Great  Britain. 


THE   EAGLE  S   CLIFF.  '  1 25 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

From  the  scarcity  of  grouse  in  Achil,  we  altered  our 
original  plans,  and  decided  upon  sending  our  dogs  back 
to  the  Lodge  by  a  rowing-boat,  and  going  in  the  hooker 
to  visit  the  island  of  Inniskea. 

After  breakfast  we  proceeded  to  embark  our  personals  ; 
and  having  despatched  our  heavy  luggage  by  the  atten- 
dants, whom  we  ordered  home,  we  ascended  the  hill 
(while  the  crew  were  clearing  and  baiting  their  spillets), 
in  the  vague  hope  of  getting  a  shot  at  those  predatory 
birds,  of  whose  spoliations  we  had  heard  so  much  on  the 
preceding  evening. 

On  reaching  the  bottom  of  the  rock  in  whose  face  the 
aerie  stands,  we  discovered  that  the  old  birds  were 
absent  ;  and  as  the  nest  was  formed  in  a  deep  fissure, 
we  could  not  ascertain  its  situation  exactly.  But  that  the 
eagles'  dwelling  was  above  us  was  evident  enough  : 
the  base  of  the  cliff  was  strewn  with  bones  and  feathers, 
and  the  accumulation  of  both  was  extraordinary.  The 
bones  of  rabbits,  hares,  and  domestic  fowls,  were  most 
numerous  ;  but  those  of  smaller  game,  and  various 
sorts  of  fish,  were  visible  among  the  heap. 

Many  attempts  are  annually  made  to  destroy  this 
predatory  family  ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  rob  the  nest. 
Situated  two  hundred  feet  above  the  base  of  the  rock, 
it  is,  of  course,  unapproachable  from  below  ;  and  as  the 
cliffs  beetle  over  it  frightfully,  to  assail  it  from  above 
would  be  a  hazardous  essay.  An  enterprising  peasant, 
some  years  since,  was  let  down  by  a  rope  and  basket ; 
but  he  was  fiercely  attacked  by  the  old  birds,  and  the 
basket  nearly  overturned.     Fortunately,  the  cord  was 


126  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

Strong,  and  had  sufficient  length  to  allow  his  being  lowered 
rapidly,  or  he  would  have  undoubtedly  sustained  some 
bodily  injury  from  the  wings  and  talons  of  those  enraged 
and  savage  birds.  The  following  interesting  anecdote 
is  well  authenticated  :  "  Two  eagles,  in  the  wildest 
part  of  a  neighbouring  county,  had  for  some  time  depre- 
dated on  the  neighbourhood,  and  bore  away  lambs, 
kids,  &c.,  for  the  sustenance  of  their  young.  Some 
peasants  determined,  if  possible,  to  obtain  the  young 
birds  ;  and  ascended  the  mountains,  but  found  that  the 
nest  was  in  a  part  of  the  perpendicular  rock,  near  one 
hundred  feet  below  the  summit,  and  about  three  hundred 
above  the  sea,  which,  with  terrific  appearances,  dashed 
against  its  base.  They  had  provided  themselves  with 
ropes,  and  a  lad,  armed  with  a  cimetar,  was  by  this 
means  lowered  by  the  rest.  He  arrived  in  safety  at  the 
nest,  where,  as  he  expected,  he  was  attacked  with  infinite 
fury  by  one  of  the  old  eagles,  at  which  he  made  a  stroke 
with  his  sword,  that  nearly  cut  asunder  the  rope  by  which 
he  was  suspended.  Fortunately,  one  strand  of  it 
remained.  He  described  his  state  to  his  comrades, 
waiting  in  horrible  expectation  that  the  division  of  the 
cord  would  precipitate  him  to  the  bottom  ;  but  though 
he  might  have  been  to  die  by  a  rope,  it  was  not  in  this 
manner.  He  was  cautiously  and  safely  hauled  up  ; 
when  it  was  found  that  his  hair,  which  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  before  had  been  of  a  dark  auburn,  had  in  that  short 
period,  become  perfectly  white." 

The  village  of  Dugurth  suffers  heavily  from  its  unfor- 
tunate proximity  to  the  aerie.  When  the  wind  blows 
from  a  favourable  point,  the  eagle,  in  the  grey  of  morning, 
sweeps  through  the  cabins,  and  never  fails  in  carrying 
off  some  prey. 


THE  eagle's   cliff.  1 27 

To  black  fowls,  eagles  appear  particularly  attached  ; 
and  the  villagers  avoid,  as  much  as  possible,  rearing 
birds  of  that  colour. 

A  few  days  before  our  arrival,  one  of  the  coast-guards, 
alarmed  by  the  cries  of  a  boy,  rushed  from  the  watch- 
house  ;  the  eagle  had  taken  up  a  black  hen,  and  as  he 
passed  within  a  few  yards,  the  man  flung  his  cap  at  him. 
The  eagle  dropped  the  bird  ;  it  was  quite  dead,  however, 
the  talons  having  shattered  the  back-bone.  The 
villagers  say  (with  what  truth  I  know  not)  that  turkeys 
are  never  taken. 

That  the  eagle  is  extremely  destructive  to  fish,  and  par- 
ticularly so  to  salmon,  many  circumstances  would  prove. 
They  are  constantly  discovered  watching  the  fords, 
in  the  spawning  season,  and  are  seen  to  seize  and  carry 
off  the  fish  One  curious  anecdote  I  heard  from  my 
friend  the  priest.  Some  years  since,  a  herdsman,  on 
a  very  sultry  day  in  July,  while  looking  for  a  missing 
sheep,  observed  an  eagle  posted  on  a  bank  that  overhung 
a  pool.  Presently  the  bird  stooped  and  seized  a  salmon, 
and  a  violent  struggle  ensued.  When  the  herd  reached 
the  spot,  he  found  the  eagle  pulled  under  water  by  the 
strength  of  the  fish,  and  the  calmness  of  the  day  joined 
to  drenched  plumage,  rendered  him  unable  to  extricate 
himself.  With  a  stone,  the  peasant  broke  the  eagle's 
pinion,  and  actually  secured  the  spoiler  and  his  victim, 
for  he  found  the  salmon  dying  in  his  grasp. 

When  shooting  on  Lord  Sligo's  mountains,  near  the 
Killeries,  I  heard  many  particulars  of  the  eagle's  habits 
and  history,  from  a  grey-haired  peasant,  who  had  passed  a 
long  life  in  these  wilds.  The  scarcity  of  hares,  which  here 
were  once  abundant,  he  attributed  to  the  rapacity  of 
those  birds  ;    and  he  affirmed  that,  when  in  pursuit  of 


128  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

these  animals,  the  eagle  evinced  a  degree  of  intelligence 
that  appeared  extraordinary.  They  coursed  the  hares, 
he  said,  with  great  judgment  and  certain  success  ;  one 
bird  was  the  active  follower,  while  another  remained  in 
reserve,  at  the  distance  of  forty  or  fifty  yards.  If  the 
hare  by  a  sudden  turn,  freed  herself  from  her  most 
pressing  enemy,  the  second  bird  instantly  took  up  the 
chase,  and  thus  prevented  the  victim  from  having  a 
moment's  respite. 

He  had  remarked  the  eagles,  also,  while  they  were 
engaged  in  fishing.  They  chose  a  small  ford  upon  the 
rivulet  which  connects  Glencullen  with  GlanduUah, 
and,  posted  on  either  side,  waited  patiently  for  the  salmon 
to  pass  over.  Their  watch  was  never  fruitless  ;  and  many 
a  salmon,  in  its  transit  from  the  sea  to  the  lake,  was 
transferred  from  his  native  element  to  the  wild  aerie  in 
the  Alpine  cliff,  that  beetles  over  the  romantic  waters 
of  Glencullen. 

Nor  is  it  to  birds  of  prey  alone  that  the  extreme  scarcity 
of  game  upon  this  island  may  be  attributed.  Foxes 
are  found  here  in  numbers  that  appear  incredible.  The 
sides  of  Slieve  More,  in  places  formed  of  masses  of 
disrupted  rock,  afford  numerous  and  inaccessible  burrows 
to  those  mischievous  animals  ;  and  the  sand-banks, 
stocked  with  rabbits,  offer  them  an  easy  and  certain 
means  of  subsistence.  Hence,  their  annual  increase 
is  wonderful ;  and  the  numbers  on  the  island  may  be 
estimated  from  this  simple  fact,  that  one  of  the  coast- 
guards, who  happened  to  have  a  couple  of  good  terriers, 
destroyed,  in  the  space  of  a  season,  eighteen  full-grown 
foxes.  The  multitude  of  lambs  lost  by  these  depre- 
dators, has  nearly  deterred  the  islanders  from  keeping 
ewes  ;   and   there   is    not   a   spot   in    Great  Britain  so 


THE   EAGLE  S   CLIFF.  1 29 

persecuted  by  winged  and  footed  vermin  as  this  wild 
district.  Of  smaller  birds  of  prey  there  is  a  plentiful 
variety  ;  but  the  devastations  of  the  greater  tribe  cause 
their    minor  larcenies  to  be  unnoticed. 

With  a  light  leading  breeze,  we  stood  across  the  bay, 
passed  the  Island  of  Devilawn,  and,  running  through 
a  sound,  which  separates  Tarmon  from  Inniskea,  came-to 
at  the  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  landing- 
place.  It  was  low  water,  and  the  boats  were  all  hauled 
up  upon  the  beach.  Even  in  the  calmest  weather 
the  greatest  caution  is  requisite  to  protect  them  from 
the  heavy  and  sudden  swells  that  eternally  break  on 
this  wild  coast  ;  and,  if  left  within  the  reach  of  the  surf, 
they  are  frequently  stove  before  the  careless  crew  are 
aware  of  danger.  Anxious  to  land,  we  fired  a  gun, 
and,  being  upon  an  excellent  bank  for  spillet-fishing, 
the  boatmen  adjusted  their  buoys,  and  commenced 
throwing  their  lines  overboard. 

I  was  watching  the  progress  made  by  a  dozen  of  the 
islanders  to  launch  a  row-boat  to  the  water,  when 
suddenly,  from  beneath  the  opposite  cliff,  a  floating 
substance  appeared  to  issue  from  the  side  of  the  preci- 
pice. We  had  neared  the  shore  considerably,  and  the 
object,  of  which  I  had  previously  but  an  indistinct 
view,  was  now  more  clearly  seen.  It  was  a  woman 
sitting  in  a  curragh,  fishing  for  codling  and  gunners. 
Startled  by  the  discharge  of  the  musket,  she  pulled  a 
short  distance  from  the  cliffs,  and  then  lay-to  upon  her 
paddles,  watching  the  hooker  as  she  shot  the  spillets. 

"  These  lazy  lubbers  will  be  half-an-hour  getting  that 
heavy  row-boat  across  the  sand-ridge,"  said  my  kins- 
man.    "  Hail  the  curragh,  Pattigo,  and  let  us  get  ashore." 

To  the  shout  of  the  skipper,  a  ''  cead  fealtagh,"  was 

K 


130  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

returned  ;  the  paddles  dipped  in  the  water,  the  light 
curragh  skimmed  over  the  surface  like  a  sea-bird,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  the  female  and  her  frail  bark  were 
rocking  beneath  the  counter  of  the  sailing-boat. 

I  shuddered  as  I  looked  over  the  hooker's  side  at  this 
crazy  vehicle  ;  it  was  but  a  few  slight  hoops,  secured 
together  by  cords,  and  overlaid  by  a  covering  of  canvas, 
rendered  waterproof  by  a  coating  of  tar  and  tallow. 
The  machine  was  so  unsubstantial  that  a  schoolboy  could 
carry  it  easily  upon  his  shoulders.  Nor  was  its  fragility 
alone  that  which  rendered  this  bark  so  perilous  ;  from 
its  peculiar  construction,  it  scarcely  rested  on  the  surface 
of  the  sea  ;  and,  consequently,  the  least  change  of 
position  in  the  occupant  would  inevitably  capsize  it ; 
and  yet,  in  this  frail  vessel,  the  young  islander  sat  in 
perfect  security,  a  couple  of  hand-lines  coiled  at  her 
feet,  and  the  bottom  of  the  curragh  overspread  with  the 
produce  of  her  fishery.  Without  the  romance  of  Scott's 
beautiful  boatwoman  there  was  something  more  than 
interesting  in  the  air  and  look  of  this  wild  female.  Free 
from  that  timidity  which  might  be  expected  in  the 
inhabitant  of  a  remote  coast,  on  her  first  introduction 
to  strangers  of  a  different  grade  in  society,  she  laughed 
and  jested  with  the  boatmen  ;  and  the  play  of  her 
merry  hazel  eye,  and  the  smile  which  disclosed  a  row 
of  pure  and  even  teeth,  had  really  more  in  them  to 
captivate  than  the  cold  and  regular  charms  of  many  a 
high-born  beauty. 

**  We  must  land  singly,"  said  my  cousin  ;  '*  for  your 
curragh  is  but  a  crank  concern.  Mind  how  you  step 
in,  Frank."  But  I  had  already  determined  against  an 
embarkation,  and  accordingly  declined  the  honour 
of  being  first  adventurer.     My  timidity  only  excited  the 


THE   EAGLES    CLIFF.  I3I 

mirth  of  the  sea-nymph  ;  and,  unwilHng  to  be  laughed 
at  by  a  woman,  I  took  courage,  and  cautiously  committed 
my  person  to  the  skiff  ;  a  change  of  position  was,  of 
course,  necessary  on  the  lady's  part,  and  this  she  managed 
with  such  adroitness  that  the  equilibrium  of  the  coracle 
was  undisturbed.  In  a  moment  her  sculls  were  flashing 
in  the  waters,  and  we  speedily  reached  the  strand. 

The  rowing-boat  was  now  afloat,  and  pulling  to  the 
hooker  to  bring  off  my  kinsman.  My  sea-nymph  tossed 
her  fish  and  paddles  to  a  little  boy,  who  was  expecting 
her,  received  with  a  low  curtsey  the  silver  I  presented 
as  my  passage-money,  and,  having  returned  her  small 
purse  to  her  bosom,  she  threw  the  curragh  across  her 
back,  and  left  me,  invoking  "  God  to  bless  my  honour." 

The  boat  returned  with  my  cousin  and  our  guns  ;  and 
while  the  dinner  requisites  were  being  brought  ashore,  we 
strolled  towards  the  side  of  a  hill,  where  we  observed  a 
number  of  rabbits  at  play.  They  were  very  numerous, 
and  exhibited  a  greater  variety  than  those  of  the  other 
warrens  that  I  had  as  yet  visited.  We  selected  some 
of  the  gayest  colour  for  our  practice,  and  whiled  an  hour 
away,  until  a  summons  from  the  cook  recalled  us  to 
the  village. 

The  spillets  had  provided  us  sumptuously  with  flat- 
fish, and  a  present  of  shrimps  and  lobsters  completed 
our  cuisine.  The  best  house  in  the  island  had  offered 
us  its  accommodation,  and  there  was  an  appearance  of 
comfort  and  rustic  opulence  in  the  furniture,  that  we 
had  not  anticipated  when  we  landed. 

There  are  numerous  chances  and  god-sends  incident 
to  these  islands,  which  the  other  lines  of  sea-coast 
seldom  obtain.  Frequent  and  valuable  wrecks  furnish 
the  inhabitants  with  many  articles  of  domestic  utility. 


132  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

The  drift  timber  from  the  Atlantic  gives  them  an  abun- 
dant supply  for  the  building  and  repairs  of  boats  and 
houses  ;  and  immense  quantities  of  sea-fowl  feathers 
are  annually  collected  upon  the  Black  Rock,  which  is 
contiguous  to  Inniskea.  The  island  affords  excellent 
pasturage  for  sheep  ;  and  thus  timber,  feathers,  and 
wool  enable  the  inhabitants  to  have  domestic  comforts 
in  abundance.  In  winter,  the  take  of  cod,  hake,  and  ling 
is  inexhaustible  ;  peats  are  excellent  and  plenty,  and 
food  and  fuel  are  consequently  never  scarce  in  Inniskea. 

These  are,  doubtless,  great  advantages  over  the 
interior  districts,  but  they  are  barely  necessary  to  com- 
pensate the  other  local  inconveniences.  Throughout 
the  greater  portion  of  the  winter  all  communication 
with  the  mainland  is  interrupted.  The  sick  must  die 
without  relief,  and  the  sinner  pass  to  his  account  without 
the  consolations  of  religion.  Should  anything  beyond 
the  produce  of  the  island  be  requisite  in  the  stormy 
months,  it  must  be  procured  with  imminent  danger  ; 
and  constant  loss  of  life  and  property  forms  the  unhappy 
theme  of  the  tales  and  traditions  of  this  insulated  people. 

A  calm  and  misty  twilight  had  fallen  on  Slieve  More, 
and  abridged  the  almost  boundless  range  of  ocean  over 
which  the  eye  passed  when  we  first  landed.  At  a  little  dis- 
tance the  village  girls  were  milking,  carolling  those  melan- 
choly ditties  to  which  the  Irish  are  so  partial.  I  strolled^ 
among  the  rocks,  and  chose  the  narrow  path,  which  the 
full  tide  left  between  its  margin  and  the  cliffs.  The  moon 
was  rising  now  in  exquisite  beauty — the  water  was 
rippling  to  the  rocks — one  long  and  wavy  line  of  molten 
silver  undulated  across  the  surface  of  the  sea — and  there 
were  wild  cliffs  and  bolder  headlands  in  glorious  relief. 
No  scene  on  earth  could  be  more  peaceful  or  romantic. 


THE  EAGLETS  CLIFF.  133 

I  was  indulging  in  delicious  reverie,  when  something 
like  a  bird  flitted  hastily  by — again,  and  there  was  a 
heavy  plump  in  the  water.  I  looked  up, — a  wild, 
unearthly-looking  creature  stood  on  the  cliff  above,  in 
the  very  act  of  launching  a  huge  stone  at  me  !  Just  then 
a  female  figure  rose  beside  him,  and  with  threats  and 
blows  drove  him  from  the  rock.  It  was  my  fair  friend 
of  the  curragh,  who,  seeing  me  take  the  lonely  path  I  did, 
hastened  after  to  warn  me  of  the  danger.  She  told  me 
that  the  assailant  was  a  dangerous  lunatic  ;  he  was 
treacherous  beyond  description,  and  his  antipathy  to 
women  and  strangers  was  remarkable.  Many  accidents 
had  occurred  from  his  savage  disposition.  He  feared 
men  and  rarely  attacked  them  ;  but  if  he  saw  a  female 
at  a  distance  from  the  village,  he  would  lurk  with  malig- 
nant perseverance  for  hours  behind  a  bank  or  cliff  to 
attack  her  unawares.  Some  of  the  island  women  had 
narrowly  escaped  death  from  this  truculent  monster, 
and  few  of  the  males  but  had,  at  some  time  or  other, 
suffered  injury  from  his  hands  ;  a  stone  was  his  favourite 
missile,  which  he  threw  with  wonderful  force  and 
precision.  To  my  inquiry  "  Why  this  dangerous  being 
was  not  removed  to  some  asylum  ?  "  my  protectress 
replied  with  a  smile,  "  He  was  but  a  poor  natural,  after 
all ;  he  was  born  in  the  island,  and  God  forbid  that  they 
should  send  him  among  strangers."  On  conversing  with 
my  cousin  afterwards,  he  told  me  that,  in  the  west  of 
Ireland,  the  peasantry  had  a  superstitious  veneration 
for  idiots  and  madmen,  and,  like  the  Turks,  believed  that 
insanity  and  inspiration  were   only  synonymes. 

The  illicit  whisky  made  in  this  island  holds  a  first  rank 
in  the  estimation  of  the  poteein  fancier.  The  cause  of 
its   superior   excellency    may    arise    from    the    insular 


134  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

situation  of  the  place,  enabling  the  distiller  to  carry  on  his 
business  leisurely,  and  thus  avoid  the  bad  consequences 
attendant  on  hurrying  the  process, — for  to  rapid  and 
defective  distillation  may  be  ascribed  the  burnt  flavour, 
so  common  in  whisky  produced  within  the  range  of  the 
Revenue.  The  barley,  also,  grown  in  this  and  the 
other  adjacent  islands  is  excellent — and  as  the  spirit  is 
drawn  from  a  copper  still,  it  has  many  advantages  to 
recommend  it.  The  illicit  apparatus  in  common  use 
is,  with  few  exceptions,  made  of  tin — ^the  capture  of  a 
copper  still,  from  the  superior  value  of  the  metal,  would 
be  a  serious  loss,  and  consequently  a  cheaper  substitute 
is  resorted  to. 

Here^  the  still  is  considered  a  valuable  heirloom  in  a 
family,  and  descends  in  due  succession  from  father  to 
son.  When  not  in  use,  it  is  lowered  by  a  rope  into 
one  of  the  deep  caverns  with  which  the  western  face  of 
the  island  abounds,  and  nothing  but  a  treacherous 
disclosure  by  some  secret  enemy  could  enable  the 
Revenue  to  discover  the  place  where  it  is  concealed,  in 
any  of  the  unfrequent  visits  they  make  to  this  remote 
spot. 

That  the  attention  of  the  Preventive  officers  is  not 
more  particularly  turned  to  a  place  notorious  for  its 
inroads  on  the  Revenue  may  appear  strange.  In  fact  this 
island  enjoys  a  sort  of  prescriptive  privilege  to  sin  against 
the  ordinances  of  the  Excise.  This  indulgence  arises, 
however,  not  from  the  apathy  of  the  Revenue,  but  from 
natural  causes,  which  are  easily  explained.  A  boat 
may  approach  Inniskea  in  the  full  confidence  of  a  settled 
calm,  and  before  an  hour  a  gale  may  come  on  that  will 
render  any  chance  of  leaving  it  impracticable,  and  weeks 
will  elapse  occasionally  before  an  abatement  of  the  storm 


THE  eagle's  cliff.  135 

would  allow  the  imprisoned  stranger  to  quit  those 
dangerous  shores.  Hence,  in  his  professional  avocations, 
the  priest  is  obHged  to  watch  the  weather  carefully 
before  he  ventures  to  visit  Inniskea — and  it  has  not 
unfrequently  occurred  that  the  rites  of  religion  have 
been  interrupted,  and  the  celebrant  obliged  to  embark, 
at  a  moment's  notice,  to  avoid  the  consequences  of  being 
caught  by  a  coming  gale.  The  islanders,  from  constant 
observation  of  the  phenomena  of  sea  and  sky,  generally 
foresee  the  storm  before  it  blows  ;  but  even  the  oldest 
and  most  skilful  inhabitant  will  frequently  be  sur- 
prised by  an  unexpected  tempest. 

There  are  no  people  on  earth  more  punctilious  in  the 
interment  of  the  dead  than  the  peasantry  of  this  remote 
district.  A  strange  and  unaccountable  custom  exists 
of  burying  different  families,  resident  on  the  mainland, 
in  island  cemeteries,  and  great  difficulty,  and  oftentimes 
imminent  peril,  attends  the  conveyance  of  a  corpse  to 
its  insulated  resting-place.  No  inducement  will  make 
those  wild  people  inter  a  body  apart  from  the  tomb 
of  its  fathers,  and  if  a  boat  will  live,  the  corpse  will  be 
transported  to  the  family  tomb.  At  times  the  weather 
renders  this  impracticable,  but  the  deceased  is  kept  for 
many  days  unburied  in  the  hope  that  the  storm  may 
subside  ;  and  only  when  frail  mortality  evinces  unequi- 
vocal tokens  of  decay  will  the  relatives  consent  to  unite 
its  dust  with  the  ashes  of  a  stranger. 

It  is  asserted,  but  with  what  truth  I  cannot  pretend 
to  state,  that  the  inhabitants  of  Inniskea  are  prone  to 
litigation,  and  a  curious  legend  of  a  lawsuit  is  told  upon 
the  mainland,  illustrative  of  this,  their  quarrelsome 
disposition.  A  century  ago,  two  persons  were  remark- 
able here  for  superior  opulence,  and  had  become  the  envy 


136  WILD   SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

and  wonder  of  their  poorer  neighbours.  Their  wealth 
consisted  of  a  flock  of  sheep,  when,  unfortunately, 
some  trifling  dispute  occurring  between  them,  a  disso- 
lution of  partnership  was  resolved  upon.  To  divide 
the  flock,  one  would  suppose,  would  not  be  difficult, 
and  they  proceeded  to  partition  the  property  accord- 
ingly. They  possessed  one  hundred  and  one  sheep  ; 
fifty  fell  to  each  proprietor,  but  the  odd  one — ^how  was 
it  to  be  disposed  of  ?  Neither  would  part  with  his 
moiety  to  the  other,  and  after  a  long  and  angry  nego- 
tiation, the  animal  was  left  in  common  property  between 
them.  Although  the  season  had  not  come  round  when 
sheep  are  usually  shorn,  one  of  the  proprietors,  requiring 
wool  for  a  pair  of  stockings,  proposed  that  the  fleece 
should  be  taken  off.  This  was  resisted  by  his  co-partner, 
and  the  point  was  finally  settled  by  shearing  one  side 
of  the  animal.  Only  a  few  days  after  the  sheep  was 
found  dead  in  a  deep  ditch  ;  one  party  ascribed  the 
accident  to  the  cold  feelings  of  the  animal  having  urged 
him  to  seek  a  shelter  in  the  fatal  trench  ;  while  the 
other  contended  that  the  wool  remaining  upon  one  side 
had  caused  the  wether  to  lose  its  equilibrium,  and  thus 
the  melancholy  catastrophe  was  occasioned.  The 
parties  went  to  law  directly,  and  the  expenses  of  the  suit 
actually  devoured  the  produce  of  the  entire  flock,  and 
reduced  both  to  a  state  of  utter  beggary.  Their  descen- 
dants are  pointed  out  to  this  day  as  being  the  poorest 
of  the  community,  and  litigants  are  frequently  warned 
to  avoid  the  fate  of  ''  M alley  and  Malone.'* 

Notwithstanding  the  uncertainty  of  weather  in  Inniskea 
is  proverbial,  we  had  no  reason  to  complain.  The  sun 
rose  gloriously  from  the  ocean — every  cloud  vanished 
from  the  rocky  pinnacle  of  Slieve  More — a  stiff  breeze 


THE  eagle's  cliff.  1 37 

from  the  north-west  blew  steadily,  and  by  nine  o'clock 
we  had  embarked  our  goods  and  persons  ;  and  with  as 
much  wind  as  the  hooker  could  carry  her  three  sails  to 
we  ran  through  the  Sound  of  Devilawn,  and  bade  adieu 
to  this  interesting  and  hospitable  island. 


1-^8  WILD   SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


It  was  evident  that  the  bay  was  full  of  mackerel. 
In  every  direction,  and  as  far  as  the  eye  could  range, 
gulls  and  puffins  were  collected,  and,  to  judge  by  their 
activity  and  clamour,  there  appeared  ample  employment 
for  them  among  the  fry  beneath.  We  immediately 
bore  away  for  the  place  where  these  birds  were  most 
numerously  congregated,  and  the  lines  were  scarcely 
overboard  when  we  found  ourselves  in  the  centre  of 
a  shoal  of  mackerel. 

The  hooker,  however,  had  too  much  way.  We  lowered 
the  foresail,  double-reefed  the  mainsail,  and  then  went 
steadily  to  work.  Directed  by  the  movements  of  the 
birds,  we  followed  the  mackerel,  tacking  or  wearing  the 
boat  occasionally,  when  we  found  that  we  had  overrun 
the  shoal.  For  two  hours  we  killed  those  beautiful 
fish  as  fast  as  the  baits  could  be  renewed  and  the  lines 
hauled  in  ;  and  when  we  left  off  fishing,  actually  wearied 
with  sport,  we  found  that  we  had  taken  above  five 
hundred,  including  a  number  of  the  coarser  species, 
known  on  this  coast  by  the  name  of  Horse  Mackerel. 

There  is  not,  on  sea  or  river,  always  excepting  angling 
for  salmon,  any  sport  comparable  to  this  delightful 
amusement.  Spillet  and  long-line  fishing  are  generally 
tedious  and  uninteresting  ;  and,  unless  the  fish  take 
freely,  it  is  even  with  moderate  success  a  tame  and 
spiritless  employment.  How  different  is  mackerel 
fishing  ! — full  of  fife  and  bustle,  everything  about  it 
is  animated  and  exhilarating  ;  a  brisk  breeze,  a  fair 
sky,    the    boat   in   quick   and   constant   motion, — all   is 


SIGNS   OF  FISH.  1 39 

calculated  to  interest  and  excite.  But  hanging  for  hours 
above  a  spillet,  or  enduring  the  drudgery  of  lowering 
and  hauling  in  an  almost  interminable  length  of  line 
over  the  side  of  a  motionless  boat,  is  an  abomination. 
Like  mud- shootings  this  is  only  work  for  a  peasant,  and 
should  accordingly  be  excluded  from  the  list  of  gentle- 
manly pursuits,  and  consigned  entirely  to  those  with 
whom  fishing  is  a  trade  ;  and  profit,  not  pleasure,  the 
object  of  their  piscatory  occupations.  He  who  has 
experienced  the  glorious  sensations  of  sailing  on  the 
western  ocean,  a  bright  autumnal  sky  above,  a  deep  green 
lucid  swell  around,  a  steady  breeze,  and  as  much  of  it 
as  the  hooker  can  stand  up  to,  will  estimate  the  exquisite 
enjoyment  our   morning's   mackerel-fishing  afforded. 

In  following  the  shoal  we  had  crossed  the  bay,  and 
got  under  the  Achil  shore.  Having  made  sail  again, 
we  stretched  over  towards  the  Bull's  Mouth,  attracted 
by  an  immense  play  of  sea-fowl.  It  was  nearly  low 
water,  and  Vvdiile  running  past  Innisbiggle,  we  observed 
several  seals  basking  on  the  rocks.  One  was  so  curiously 
couched  among  the  sea-weed  as  to  render  its  species 
a  subject  of  doubt  and  discussion,  until  the  close  approach 
of  the  boat  obliged  it  to  quit  the  rock,  and  thus  afl^ord 
a  distinct  view  while,  to  use  the  skipper's  phrase,  it 
zoahhled  to  the  water.  From  tne  strange  and  undefined 
ideas  the  seal's  first  appearance  occasioned,  accustomed 
as  we  were  to  see  the  animal  in  its  varied  attitudes  of 
action  or  repose,  it  is  not  surprising  that  numerous  and 
ridiculous  extravagances  have  had  their  origin  in  the 
Phocae  tribe  being  seen  under  accidental  circumstances 
by  the  wild  and  credulous  peasantry  of  this  remote 
district.  To  these  animals,  the  submarine  beings, 
who  have  for  ages  delighted  the  lovers  of  the  marvellous, 


140  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

may,  without  much  difficulty,  be  traced  ;  and  many 
a  wonder-stricken  fisherman  imagined  himself  watching 
the  movements  of  a  mermaid,  while  all  the  time  he  was 
only  staring  at  a  sea-calf. 

A  whimsical  instance  of  the  credulity  of  the  peasantry 
was  mentioned  by  my  kinsman.  Some  years  ago  a 
party  engaged  in  a  fishing  excursion  on  the  coast  came-to 
in  Achil  Sound,  and,  leaving  the  boat,  took  up  their 
quarters  for  the  night  in  the  priest's  house,  which  was 
situated  in  a  neighbouring  village.  One  of  the  company 
was  hunch-backed,  with  a  face  of  singular  and  grotesque 
expression.  Having  indulged  gloriously  over-night  in 
the  native  beverage,  which  the  honest  priest  most 
liberally  supplied,  the  little  gentleman  found  himself 
rather  amiss  in  the  morning,  and  determined  to  try 
what  salutary  effect  the  cool  sea-breeze  might  have  upon 
the  fever- warmth  his  nocturnal  revelry  had  raised. 
He  left  the  cabin  accordingly, — and  the  early  hour, 
with  the  islanders'  celebrity  for  a  simplicity  of  costume, 
induced  him  to  postpone  the  business  of  the  toilet  to  a 
more  convenient  season,  and  to  sally  forth  in  perfect 
dishabille.  For  a  time  he  straggled  along  the  shore, 
until  reaching  the  point  of  land  which  forms  the  entrance 
of  Achil  Sound,  he  selected  a  smooth  stone,  and  deposited 
his  person  among  the  rocks,  to  meditate  the  hour  away, 
before  whose  expiry  he  could  not  expect  that  breakfast 
would  be  paraded  in  the  cabin. 

It  was  dead  low- water.  Half-a-dozen  row-boats, 
bound  for  the  Fair  of  Newport,  and  filled  with  men  and 
women,  were  rowing  merrily  to  the  Bull's  Mouth, 
intending  to  enter  it  upon  the  first  of  flood.  Having 
approached  close  to  the  spot  where  the  little  gentleman 
was    ensconsed    among    the   seaweed,    up     popped    an 


SIGNS   OF   FISH.  141 

outrd  countenance,  surmounted  by  a  scarlet  nightcap  ! 
The  effect  was  sudden,  for  till  now  a  rock  had  concealed 
him  from  the  boats.  Instantly  the  women  screamed, 
and  the  men  betrayed  unequivocal  symptoms  of  dismay. 
But  when  the  dwarf,  remarking  their  alarm,  skipped 
upon  the  stone,  and  uttered  a  wild,  unearthly  yell, 
which  reverberated  from  rock  to  rock,  the  boats  put 
about  directly,  and  abandoned  the  Fair  of  Newport ; 
men  and  women,  with  one  consent,  made  off  for  their 
respective  homes  as  fast  as  four  oars  could  carry  them. 
The  awful  intelligence  was  promulgated  with  incredible 
rapidity  through  Erris  and  Ballycroy.  The  same 
Leprehawn  who  was  seen  the  year  before  the  French,^ 
had  reappeared,  to  harbinger,  no  doubt,  some  local  or 
national  calamity.  To  this  day  the  credulity  of  the 
islanders  has  never  been  disabused,  and  Tom's  uncouth 
face  and  scarlet  nightcap  are  often  fearfully  expected 
to  rise  over  the  rocks  by  the  belated  fisherman,  as  he 
runs  through  its  dangerous  opening  to  shelter  for  the 
night  in  Achil  Sound. 

The  Bull's  Mouth  is  rarely  entered  but  with  flood- 
water  or  a  powerful  leading  wind  ;  and  the  southern 
outlet  of  the  Sound  at  Achil  Beg  is  similarly  circum- 
stanced. These  straits  are  deep  and  dangerous,  for 
through  them  the  waters  which  flow  from  Blacksod 
and  Clew  Bay,  and  fill  this  extensive  channel  and  its 
surrounding  estuaries,  rush  with  amazing  violence ; 
and  the  rapidity  with  which  the  tides  enter  and  recede 
is  frightful.  The  opposing  currents  flow  nearly  north  and 
south,  and  meet  and  separate  at  the  ruins  of  an  ancient 
salt-house.     Here,   the   old   mountain-road   terminated, 

*  The  landing  of  the  French  is  a  common  epoch  among  the 
inhabitants  of  Ballycroy.  Ask  a  peasant  his  age  and  he  wiU  probably 
tell  you,  "  he  was  born  two  or  three  years  before  or  after  the  French." 


142  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

and  at  the  Farsett — as  the  ford  across  the  estuary  is 
termed — ^the  passenger  can  earliest  cross  to  the  island 
from  the  mainland.  Indeed,  the  intercourse  with 
Achil  was  in  former  days  limited  enough.  Few  persons, 
except  those  engaged  in  smuggling,  visited  this  insu- 
lated district ;  and  many  an  islander  lived  and  died 
without  having  ever  seen  a  town. 

The  fishing-boats  and  hookers,  whose  easy  draught  of 
water  will  permit  it,  naturally  prefer  a  passage  through 
the  Sound,  when  voyaging  from  Erris  to  Clew  Bay, 
rather  than  the  longer  and  more  exposed  course  of 
rounding  Achil  Head.  To  effect  it,  however,  requires 
some  skill,  and  a  strict  attention  to  the  tides.  On  the 
Farsett,  the  depth  at  high-water  seldom  exceeds  eight 
or  nine  feet :  and  as  the  flow  and  recession  of  the  oppos- 
ing waters  is  astonishingly  rapid,  the  boat  must  enter 
upon  one  and  retire  upon  the  other.  The  passage,  if 
effected,  is  consequently  but  very  short,  and  the  Sound 
may  be  cleared  in  an  hour  with  the  same  wind  that  would 
occupy  an  entire  day,  if  Achil  Head  were  doubled. 

In  bad  weather,  both  entrances,  however,  are 
dangerous  in  the  extreme,  and  care  and  seamanship 
are  necessary  to  pass  either  with  safety.  The  peasantry 
are  habituated  to  this  voyage,  and  comparatively  little 
risk  ensues.  Still,  many  accidents  have  occurred — 
small  boats  have  foundered  in  the  attempt — and  large 
hookers,  when  deeply  laden,  have  perished  in  the  con- 
flicting eddies  which  opposite  winds  and  tides  occasion. 
The  most  cautious  boatmen  are  sometimes  overtaken 
by  squalls  from  the  surrounding  hills — and  night  and 
drunkenness  have,  alas  !  been  more  fatal  than  all  besides. 

Yet  the  Bull's  Mouth,  like  the  ordeal  of  mortal 
inquietude,  leads  to  its  haven  of  rest.     In  a  gale  from  the 


SIGNS   OF   FISH. 


143 


westward,  when  the  Atlantic  tumbles  with  mountainous 
fury  into  Blacksod  Bay,  the  fishing-boat,  once  within 
the  Sound,  finds  smooth  and  unbroken  water.  Hence, 
when  the  weather  breaks,  the  hookers  seek  its  shelter, 
there  to  wait  until  the  storm  moderates. 

Nor  is  it  to  the  fisherman  alone  that  the  Bull's  Mouth 
has  afforded  shelter  and  protection.  Not  many  years 
ago  a  large  American  vessel  was  driven  upon  the  coast 
by  a  continuance  of  westerly  winds,  and  unable  to  work 
off,  was  fairly  embayed  within  Blacksod.  Shipwreck 
appeared  inevitable — anchor  after  anchor  was  let  go, 
but  the  tremendous  swell  from  the  ocean  parted  the 
cables,  and  the  vessel  drifted  rapidly  towards  the  shore. 
The  wild  and  rock-bound  coast  to  leeward  terrified 
the  crew,  and,  in  despair,  they  committed  themselves 
to  their  boat,  abandoning  the  ship  to  her  fate.  A  hooker's 
crew,  which  had  been  caught  by  the  gale,  witnessed 
the  desertion  of  the  vessel,  and,  although  boarding  her 
was  a  service  of  danger,  they  determined  to  attempt  her 
rescue.  They  succeeded,  and  the  derelict  bark  was  carried 
safely  within  the  Sound. 

To  the  Bull's  Mouth  also,  one  of  his  Majesty's  cruisers 
was  indebted  for  her  deliverance.  During  the  last 
American  War  an  enemy's  schooner  of  formidable 
force  dragooned  the  coast  from  Arran  to  the  Stags  of 
Broad  Haven.  She  landed  where  she  pleased,  and 
amused  herself  by  burning  every  coaster  that  was  silly 
enough  to  leave  her  harbour.  In  Achil  the  Fox  was 
quite  at  home, — the  crew  trafficked,  danced,  and  drank 
among  the  islanders,  with  as  much  sang-jroid  as  if  Paul 
Jones  had  been  commander.  But  this  could  not  last 
for  ever.  Some  heavy  sloops  and  brigs  were  ordered 
from  the  southward,  and  the  Fox  was  reluctantly  obliged 


144  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

to  disappear.  A  revenue  cruiser,  that  had  been  long 
blockaded  in  Westport  Bay,  took  heart  and  ventured 
out.  The  enemy  was  out  of  sight,  and  with  a  clear  sea, 
old  Morris  rounded  Achil  Head.  When  the  scarecrow 
vanishes,  it  is  marvellous  how  rapidly  one's  courage  is  re- 
kindled ;  and,  too  late,  the  Nepean  discovered  that  the 
odds  between  herself  and  the  privateer  were  not  so  des- 
perate. In  point  of  men  and  metal  the  Fox  was  indeed 
overwhelming,  but  still,  steady  discipline  and  close 
fighting  might  do  wonders.  Morning  dawned — and  its 
first  light  showed  the  infernal  Fox  but  two  short  miles  to 
windward!  Away  went  the  cutter,  and  away  went  the 
privateer.  With  singular  audacity  the  Fox  followed 
into  the  Bay,  came  up  hand-over-hand,  and  gained 
upon  the  cruiser  until  the  long  two-and-thirty^  which 
the  Yankee  mounted  amidships,  began  to  throw  its 
shot  to  a  most  alarming  proximity.  The  Bull's  Mouth 
was  before,  and  a  rakish  schooner  that,  to  use  a  fancy 
phrase,  "  would  not  be  denied,"  was  astern  ; — ^there  was 
no  alternative,  and  for  the  first,  and  most  probably  the 
last  time,  the  King's  hunting  sought  safety  within  the 
Sound  of  Achil.  Finding  her  water  lessen — ^for  she  had 
actually  crossed  the  Ridge  Point  before  she  hauled  her 
wind — the  Fox  abandoned  the  pursuit,  and  left  the  Irish 
coast  for  America,  where  she  duly  arrived,  after  a  daring 
and  destructive,  but  a  very  unprofitable  cruise. 

Safely  landed  at  the  Lodge, — but  all  is  in  an  uproar! 
Colonel  Dwyer,  an  honoured  and  expected  visitor,  has 
arrived  in  safety,  but  he  comes  minus  his  portmanteau, 
which  some  delinquent,  neither  having  the  fear  of 
hanging,  or  my  kinsman's  wrath  before  his  eyes, 
abstracted  from  Andy  Bawn,  to  whom  its  safe  delivery 
was  entrusted.     Nothing  can  surpass  the  surprise  and 


SIGNS   OF   FISH.  I45 

consternation  this  event  occasions — ^the  women  are 
clamorous — the  men  curse  fluently  in  Irish — and,  from 
the  vows  of  eternal  vengeance  which  are  uttered  against 
the  spoliator  of  the  Colonel's  wardrobe,  I  should  imagine, 
in  case  of  apprehension,  that  the  ceremony  of  waiting 
till  the  next  assizes  will  be  dispensed  with.  Antony 
"  remembers  the  country  these  seventy  years  :  many 
a  robbery  happened  in  his  time,  but — God  stand  between 
him  and  evil  1 — to  take  a  gentleman's  property,  and  he 
coming  to  the  master  ! — If  it  was  a  stranger,  why,  there 
would  be  no  great  harm,"  &c.,  &c. 

Fear  and  poteein  disturb  the  concatenation  of  ideas, 
and  Andy  Bawn's  is  anything  but  a  lucid  narrative. 
There  is  a  confused  account  of  the  Bridge  of  Bally- 
veeney,  and  a  dark  man,  and  the  clicking  of  a  gun-cock. 
Now  it  appears  that  Andy  is  at  feud  with  a  Mr.  Burke, 
who  finished  a  relative  of  his  with  a  turj-slane*  and  in 
consequence  has  deemed  it  advisable  to  take  to  the 
mountain  until  terms  can  be  arranged  with  the  widow. 
Meantime,  being  a  gentleman  of  active  disposition, 
he  occupies  his  leisure  hours  upon  the  highway,  and  all 
parties  are  unanimous  in  saddling  him  with  the  spolia- 
tion of  the  portmanteau.  I  am  inclined  to  suspect  that 
my  kinsman  hitherto  sported  deaf-adder  to  any  rumour 
of  Burke  being  concealed  within  his  territory — but  I 
think  now  the  sooner  Mr.  Burke  levants  the  better. 
There  is  a  settled  gloom  upon  my  cousin's  brow,  and 
yonder  consultation  with  his  foster-brother,  my  island 
friend,  bodes  the  present  proprietor  of  the  portmanteau 
little  good.     To  intercept  a  visitor's  effects  was  indeed  to 

"  Beard  the  lion  in  his  den, 
The  Douglas  in  his  hall." — 

But  dinner  is  announced. 

*  An  implement  used  for  cutting  turf,  and  heads  occasionally. 

L 


146  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

I  wish  the  value  of  the   Colonel's  assets  could  be 
ascertained,  and  that  I  dared  Hquidate  the  amount.     An 
earthquake,  I  think,  would  not  have  created  half  the 
sensation.     My  kinsman  is  dreadfully  irate — his  feudal 
power  is  shaken  to  the  centre,  and  either  he  or  Mr. 
Burke  must  leave  Ballycroy      It  is  quite  evident  that  he 
tacitly  permitted  the  outlaw  to  conceal  himself  in  this 
neighbourhood,  and  considered  that  he  existed  but  by 
his   sufferance.     There  is  a  strange  dash  of  barbarism 
among  the  old  proprietors  still.     To  hunt  a  felon  down, 
who  acknowledges  the  supremacy  of  the  master,  would 
be  infra  dignita  tern.     The  good  old  system  would  then 
be  at  an  end — and,  in  time,  even  a  bailiff  might  pass 
what  has  been  the  Ultima  Thule  of  the  law,  and  live. 
My  cousin  is  aware  of  this.     He  feels  that  the  rights 
and   immunities   of  his   modern   Alsatia   must   not   be 
lightly    compromised.     His    rent-roll    may    be    small, 
but  he  can  boast,  as  Dick  Martin  did  of  Connemara, 
that  "  here,  thank  God  !    the  King's  writ  is  not  worth 
a  half-penny."       Hence,  the  impudence  of  Mr.  Burke 
is    intolerable.      I   remember   hearing   this   word   used 
in  a  court  of  justice  in  a  most  curious  sense.     A  man  was 
on    trial,    capitally    indicted    for    murder.     The    chief 
witness  on  his  examination  detailed  the  leading  incidents 
— his  being  awakened  by  cries  of  help,  rising,  striking  a 
light,  opening  his  door,  and  finding  a  man  dead  upon 
the    threshold.      "  And    what    did    you    do    next,    my- 
friend  }  "    interrogated    the    Crown    lawyer.     "  Why," 
replied  the  witness,  with  amazing  sang  froid,  "  I  called 
out,   *  Are   any   of  ye   there   that   kilt  the   boy  }      I'll 
give  a  thirteen  to  him  who'll  tell   me   who   it   was   that 
had  the  impudence  to  murder  a  man  at  my  door  !  '  " 
An  embassy  will  be  despatched  to  Mr.  Burke,  and  if  the 


SIGNS   OF  FISH.  I47 

Colonel's  wardrobe  be  not  forthwith  restored,  with  full 
satisfaction  for  the  insult,  I  hold  the  value  of  the  out- 
law's Hfe  to  be  not  worth  a  pin's  fee. 

Indeed,  the  whole  esprit  de  corps  is  up — -the  multi- 
tudinous idlers  of  the  Lodge  are  concocting  schemes 
of  vengeance.  The  honour  of  the  "  ancient  house  " 
is  at  stake  ;  and  the  very  women  are  roused  to  action. 
Old  Antony  himself  is  not  supine — he  does  not,  like 
Diogenes  at  Sinope,  contemplate  the  general  activity 
with  indifference  ;  while  all  besides  are  turning  the 
secular  arm  against  the  delinquent,  the  Otter-killer  will 
call  in  the  assistance  of  the  Church,  and,  by  the  blessing 
of  God,  he  will  have  Mr.  Burke  cursed  in  two  chapels 
next  Sunday,  and  in  a  style,  too,  that  he  expects  shall 
give  universal  satisfaction  to  all  concerned. 

Nor  am  I,  though  unassailed  in  dignity  or  effects, 
upon  a  bed  of  roses.  Who  shall  say  where  this  business 
will  terminate  ?  We  shall  exchange  deer-shooting  for 
robber-hunting  ;  and  night  and  the  mountains  being 
unfavourable  to  identity  of  the  person,  I  may  be  shot 
by  mistake  for  an  outlaw,  or  find  myself  in  some  ravine 
tete-d-tete  with  Mr.  Burke  !  I  plead  guilty  to  consti- 
tutional nervousness,  and  for  the  last  hour  my  kinsman 
and  his  visitor  have  been  seeking  a  parallel  case  in  a 
number  of  outrages,  that  are  quite  sufficient  to  ruin  a 
man's  rest  for  the  winter.  What  memories  they  have  ! 
There  has  not  been  a  house  robbed  for  the  last  century 
with  whose  localities  they  are  not  as  well  acquainted 
as  the  builder  ;  and  in  murder-cases  they  display  an 
anatomical  experience  that  is  surprising  !  Hennessey, 
who  seldom  shows,  has  been  eternally  with  us  since  the 
cloth  was  lifted,  and  having  received  his  final  instruc- 
tions (I  hope),  has  disappeared.  Lord  !  the  tall,  gaunt, 
care-worn,  homicidal  look  of  the  man,  as  with  a  double- 


148  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

gun  across  his  arm,  and  a  case  of  pistols  projecting  from 
his  coat  pockets,  he  took  the  wine  his  patron  gave  him  ! 
but,  "  chacun  a  son  gout,'' — my  kinsman  would  not 
lose  him  for  a  thousand,  while  his  very  look  gives  me  the 
horrors  !  Even  the  piper  appears  to  have  caught  the 
general  infection  :  he  has  been  lilting  a  full  hour — not 
a  jig  or  strathspey,  but  love-lorn  ditties,  and  the  most 
lamentable  compositions  that  ever  issued  from  the 
bag  or  chanter. 

Would  I  were  in  England  again  !  for  what  is  matri- 
mony to  manslaughter  ?  I  have  been  for  a  moment  out 
to  breathe  the  cool  sea-breeze,  and  passing  the  window 
peeped  into  that  refugium  peccatorum,  the  kitchen.  The 
keeper  is  flinting  a  blunderbuss  !  There  is  security  in 
Terracina  contrasted  with  this  cabin,  and  the  Abruzzi 
is  a  land  of  Goshen  compared  with  the  mountains  of 
Ballycroy  !  I  wish  I  were  in  bed  ;  and  why  there — 
to  dream  of  everything  felonious  !  I  may  as  well  submit 
with  Turkish  endurance — it  is  the  will  of  Allah.  The 
Colonel  replenishes  the  fire,  apportioning  turf  and  bog 
deal  in  such  scientific  proportion,  that  it  is  evident  that 
he  is  making  himself  up  for  a  wet  evening  ;  and  the  cork 
our  host  is  now  extracting  will  be  merely  avant-courier 
to  three  flasks  which  I  see  lurking  in  the  cooper.  Oh, 
that  a  deputation  from  the  Temperance  Society  would 
drop  in !  But  why  complain  ? — *tis  useless.  The 
Colonel  has  discharged  a  bumper  to  the  speedy  demo- 
lition of  Mr.  Burke  !  Nor  has  he  forgotten  to  replenish 
again.  The  man  is  honest — a  person  that  one  might 
safely  drink  with  in  the  dark.  He  clears  his  throat, 
and  that  cough  preliminary  is  the  prologue  of  a  story. 
I  must,  in  common  courtesy,  be  attentive.  This  long 
and  steady  pinch  is  alarming,  and  we  are  on  the  brink 
pf  some  desperate  detail ! 


THE   colonel's  STORY.  J49 


CHAPTER  XX. 

"It   is   thirty-five    years   this    very  month  since  I  was 

quartered  with  my  regiment  in  ford  ;    I  recollect 

the  time  particularly,  for  I  got  my  Company  in  the 
thirty-seventh  on  the  same  day  that  I  received  an  invi- 
tation from  a  Mr.  Morden,  with  whom  I  had  formed 
a  mail-coach  acquaintance,  to  spend  a  week  with  him, 
and  join  his  nephew  in  partridge-shooting.  This  gentle- 
man's house  was  fourteen  miles  distant  from  the  town, 
and  situated  in  a  very  retired  part  of  the  country.  It 
was  a  wild  but  beautiful  residence,  placed  upon  the 
extremity  of  a  peninsula,  which  jutted  into  an  extensive 
lake.  To  a  sportsman  it  offered  all  the  inducements 
that  shooting  and  fishing  could  afford.  But  it  had 
others  besides  these  ;  no  man  lived  better  than  Mr. 
Morden — and  his  daughter  Emily,  and  an  orphan 
cousin,  who  resided  with  her,  were  decidedly  the  finest 
women  who  had  attended  the  last  race-ball.  No  wonder 
then  that  I  accepted  the  old  gentleman's  invitation 
willingly,  and  on  the  appointed  day  put  myself  into 
a  post-chaise,  and  reached  the  place  in  time  for  dinner. 
"  The  house  was  one  of  those  old-fashioned,  com- 
fortable, Irish  lodges,  which  are  now  extinct,  or  only 
to  be  seen  in  ruins.  It  was  a  long,  low  building,  covered 
with  an  infinity  of  thatch,  which  bade  defiance  to  rain, 
cold,  and  storm.  The  tall  and  narrow  casements 
reached  the  ground,  a  handsome  flower-knot  extended 
in  their  front,  bounded  by  a  holly  hedge,  and  woodbine 
and  other  creepers  festooned  the  windows  with  their  leaves 
and  berries.  At  some  distance  a  well-stocked  haggard 
peeped  over  a  spacious  range  of  offices  ;    the  lawn  was 


150  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

Studded  with  sheep,  which  appeared  overburdened 
with  good  condition  ;  and  as  I  drove  up  the  avenue, 
I  passed  a  well-featured,  well-clad  simpleton,  urging 
before  him,  from  a  neighbouring  stubble-field,  a  flock 
of  turkeys  as  formidable  for  numbers  as  for  size.  In 
short,  everything  about  the  place  bespoke  the  opulence 
and  comfort  of  the  proprietor. 

"  Mr.  Morden  was  a  clever  and  respectable  man  ; 
he  was  land-agent  to  several  large  estates — noted  for 
plain  and  unpretending  hospitality,  punctuality  in 
business,  and  a  character  of  unusual  determination. 

"  The  old  gentleman  'received  me  with  friendly 
sincerity,  and  his  handsome  daughter  added  a  warm 
welcome.  They  apologised  for  not  having  company 
to  meet  me,  but  '  two  famiUes  which  they  had  expected 
had  been  detained  by  some  unforeseen  occurrences  at 
home.'  Dinner  was  shortly  after  served.  Like  the 
host,  it  was  excellent  without  display — the  wines  were 
superior — and  when  the  ladies  left  us,  the  claret  went 
round  the  table  merrily. 

"  *  We  are  in  trouble  here,'  said  Mr.  Morden,  addres- 
sing me,  '  and  you  have  come  to  a  house  of  mourning. 
We  have  just  suffered  a  serious,  I  may  say  irreparable, 
loss,  in  the  sudden  death  of  two  favourite  dogs.  They 
were  of  the  genuine  breed  of  Newfoundland,  and  for 
size,  courage,  and  sagacity,  unequalled.  Poor  Emily 
has  cried  incessantly  since  the  accident.' 
"  '  Were  they  stolen  ?  ' 

"  *  Oh,  no  !  I  wish  they  were,  for  that  would  afford 
a  hope  that  chance  or  money  might  recover  them.  No, 
Sir,  they  would  not  follow  a  stranger  ;  alas  !  they  died 
yesterday  by  poison.  We,  unfortunately,  laid  arsenic 
in  a  meal-loft  to  destroy  rats — and  yet  how  the  poor 


THE  COLONEL  S   STORY.  151 

animals  could  have  got  to  it  is  a  mystery  ;  the  steward 
declares  the  key  never  left  his  possession.  I  would 
give  a  hundred  guineas  the  meal  had  been  in  the  bottom 
of  the  lake.  By  Jove  !  no  loss,  short  of  the  death  of 
a  friend,  could  have  given  us  all  so  much  uneasiness. 
They  were  my  daughter's  companions  by  day  and  my 
protectors  at  night.  Heigh,  ho  ! — Come,  Sir,  pass  the 
wine.*  Tears  stood  in  the  old  gentleman's  eyes  as  he 
spoke  of  his  unhappy  favourites,  and  from  the  valuable 
properties  of  the  lost  dogs,  it  was  not  surprising  that  their 
death  occasioned  so  much  regret  to  the  family. 

"  We  joined  the  ladies  in  the  drawing-room.  After 
tea  Mr.  Morden  took  a  bedroom  candle,  and  apologised 
for  retiring.  *  Old  habits  best  suit  old  people,  Captain  ; 
but  I  leave  you  with  the  ladies,  who  will  sit  up  till  cock- 
crow, if  you  please  : '  and  bidding  us  a  good-night, 
he  departed. 

"  *  Emily,'  said  young  Morden,  *  you  are  still  thinking 
of  your  favourites  ;  well,  I  will  ride  the  country  over 
till  I  find  you  a  handsome  dog.  Julia,  hand  me  that 
violin  from  the  piano,  and  Captain  Dwyer  will  dance 
a  reel  with  you  and  Emily.' 

"  *  Heavens  !  who  is  at  the  window  ? '  exclaimed 
Miss  Morden,  suddenly ;  *  it  looked  like  that  nasty 
beggarman  who  has  been  haunting  the  house  and  grounds 
these  three  days.  Ah,  Wolf  and  Sailor  !  had  you  been 
living,  that  vagabond  would  not  have  ventured  here 
at  this  late  hour.'  Henry  Morden  had  left  the  room  on 
hearing  his  cousin's  exclamation,  but  soon  returned, 
assuring  the  lady  that  the  beggar  was  a  creature  of  her 
imagination  ;  he  had  searched  the  shrubbery  and 
flower-garden,  and  no  mendicant  was  to  be  found  in 
either. 


152  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

"  The  alarm  was  speedily  forgotten,  and  we  danced 
reels  till  supper  was  announced.  The  doors  were 
locked,  the  windows  fastened,  the  ladies  wished  us 
good-night,  and  retired  to  their  respective  chambers. 

"  Henry  and  I  remained  for  some  time  in  the  eating- 
room  ;  the  clock  struck  twelve,  and  young  Morden 
conducted  me  to  my  apartment,  and  took  his  leave. 

"  I  felt  a  strange  disinclination  to  go  to  bed,  and  would 
have  given  anything  for  a  book.  For  temporary  employ- 
ment, I  unlocked  my  gun-case,  put  my  fowHng-piece 
together,  and  examined  whether  my  servant  had  sent 
all  necessary  apparatus  along  with  me.  I  opened  the 
window-curtains.  The  moon — a  full,  bright,  harvest 
moon — was  shining  gloriously  on  the  lawn  and  lake  : 
I  gazed  on  the  sparkling  surface  of  the  waters  till  I  felt 
the  chill  of  the  night-breeze  ;  then,  closing  the  shutters, 
reluctantly  prepared  to  undress. 

''  I  had  thrown  my  coat  and  vest  aside,  when  a  distant 
crash  was  heard,  and  a  fearful  noise,  with  oaths  and 
screams  succeeded.  I  rushed  into  the  corridor,  and 
encountered  a  terror-stricken  maid-servant  running 
from  the  extremity  of  the  passage.  Miss  Morden 
next  appeared  ;  she  was  in  complete  dishabille,  and  had 
hastily  thrown  on  a  dressing-gown.  '  Good  God ! 
Captain  Dwyer,  what  has  occurred  ? '  A  volley  from 
without  prevented  a  reply,  and  the  crashing  of  the 
windows  as  the  glass  was  splintered  by  the  bullets 
made  it  unnecessary.  *  The  house  is  attacked,'  she 
said,  and  then,  with  amazing  self-possession,  added, 
*  There  are  always  loaded  guns  above  the  kitchen 
fireplace.'  We  both  ran  down  the  corridor,  she  to  alarm 
her  father,  and  I  to  procure  a  weapon  ;  young  Morden, 
armed  with  a  sword,  met  us.     '  The  attack  is  upon  the 


THE  COLONELS   STORY.  I53 

kitchen/  he  said,   hastily  ;    *  it  is   our  weakest  point ; 
this  way,  Captain,' — and  we  both  entered  it  together. 

*'  There  was  a  bright  fire  burning  on  the  hearth. 
The  large  window  was  shattered  to  pieces,  and  the  idiot 
I  had  noticed  on  the  lawn  was  standing  beside  the 
ruined  casement,  armed  with  a  spit,  making  momentary 
passes  at  the  breach,  and  swearing  and  bellowing  fright- 
fully. I  leaped  upon  a  table  to  seize  two  muskets 
which  were  suspended  in  the  place  Miss  Morden  had 
described.  I  handed  one  to  Henry,  when  the  fire 
blazed  out  suddenly,  and  discovered  me  to  the  banditti 
without.  Instantly,  three  or  four  shots  were  discharged. 
I  heard  a  bullet  whistle  past  my  head,  and  felt  something 
strike  my  shoulder  like  a  sharp  cut  from  a  whip,  as  a 
slug  grazed  me  slightly — but  having  secured  the  gun 
I  jumped  from  the  table  uninjured.  We  heard  Mr. 
Morden  in  the  passage — his  manner  was  calm  and 
collected,  as  he  ordered  the  servant  men  to  the  front  of 
the  house,  and  dispatched  his  daughter  for  ammunition. 

''  Meanwhile,  a  dropping  fire  continued  from  with- 
out— for  from  within  no  shot  had  been  returned,  as  the 
robbers  sheltered  themselves  effectually  behind  the 
angles  of  the  offices  and  the  piers  of  the  gates.  From 
some  hurried  words  we  overheard  they  were  arranging 
a  determined  attack. 

They  will  make  a  rush  immediately,'  said  the 
elder  Morden,  coolly,  *  and  here  comes  Emily  in  good 
time  ;  don't  come  in,  love  !  ' — and  he  took  some  forty 
or  fifty  cartridges  which  she  had  brought  in  the  skirt 
of  her  dressing-gown.  Notwithstanding  the  peril  of 
our  situation  I  could  but  not  gaze  a  moment  on  the  white 
and  statue-looking  limbs  of  this  brave  and  beautiful 
girl.     *  Go,  love,  tell  John  to  bring  the  Captain's  gun- 


154 


WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 


case  from  his  chamber  ;  and  do  you,  Emily,  watch  from 
the  end  window,  and  if  you  perceive  any  movement 
that  side,  apprize  us  of  it  here. — Now,  my  boys,  be  cool 
— I'll  give  my  best  horse  to  him  who  shoots  the  first 
man.  You  have  a  good  supply  of  ammunition,  could 
we  but  coax  the  scoundrels  from  their  shelter — and  I'll 
try  a  ruse.'  The  old  gentleman  took  the  idiot's  spit, 
placed  a  coat  upon  it,  while  Henry  and  I  chose  a  position 
at  either  side  of  the  broken  window.  Mr.  Morden 
raised  the  garment  to  the  breach  ;  it  was  indistinctly 
seen  from  without ;    three  bullets  perforated  it,  and  it 

fell.     '  He's  down,  by  ! '  roared  a  robber,  exult- 

ingly.  *  Now,  Murphy,  now's  your  time  ;  smash  in 
the  door  with  your  sledge  ! '  Instantly  a  huge  ruffian 
sprang  from  behind  a  gable,  and  his  rush  was  so  sudden 
that  he  struck  twice  with  shattering  force.  We  heard 
the  hinges  give — ^we  saw  the  door  yielding — and  at  that 
critical  moment  young  Morden's  gun  missed  fire ! 
'  Curses  light  upon  the  hand  that  loaded  it  1  '  he  cried, 
as  he  caught  up  an  axe  and  placed  himself  determinately 
before  the  door,  which  we  expected  to  be  momentarily 
driven  in.  Murphy,  perceiving  the  tremendous  effects 
of  his  blows,  called  to  his  comrades  to  '  be  ready.'  He 
stood  about  five  yards  from  me — ^the  sledge  was  raised 
above  his  head — and  that  blow  would  have  shivered 
the  door  to  atoms.  I  drew  the  trigger — ^the  charge,  a 
heavy  one  of  duck-shot,  passed  like  a  six-pound  bullet 
through  the  ruffian's  body  and  he  dropped,  a  dead 
man  upon  the  threshold.  '  Captain  Dwyer,'  said  Mr. 
Morden,  calmly,  *  the  horse  is  yours  !  ' 

"  I  had  now  received  my  own  double  gun,  and  gave 
the  musket  I  had  used  so  successfully  to  Henry  Morden. 
The  death  of  the  ruffian  with  the  sledge  brought  on  a 


THE  COLONEL  S  STORY.  *       1 55 

heavy  fire  from  his  comrades.  Between  the  volleys 
they  summoned  us  to  surrender,  with  fearful  denun- 
ciations of  vengeance  if  we  resisted  longer.  We  were 
within  a  few  yards  of  each  other,  and  during  the  intervals 
of  the  firing,  they  poured  out  threats,  and  we  sent  back 
defiance. — '  Morden,  you  old  scoundrel !  '  exclaimed  the 
captain  of  the  gang,  *  in  five  minutes  we'll  have  your 
heart's  blood.'  '  No,'  was  the  calm  reply,  *  I'll  live  to 
see  you  arrayed  in  cap  and  halter.'  '  Surrender,  or 
we'll  give  no  quarter.' — *  Cowardly  scoundrel !  come 
and  try  your  hand  at  the  sledge  !  '  said  the  old  gentle- 
man, with  a  cold  and  sarcastic  smile,  as  he  turned  his 
eye  on  me,  where  I  was  watching  the  door,  with  the 
confidence  a  man  feels  who  has  his  own  trustworthy 
weapon  to  depend  upon. 

"  '  Morden,  we'll  burn  the  house  about  ye.' — *  Will 
you  put  the  coal  in  the  thatch,  Bulger  ?  ' — '  Morden, 
you  have  a  daughter  ! '  and  the  ruffian  pronounced 
a  horrid  threat.  The  old  man  shuddered,  then  in  a 
low  voice,  tremulous  with  rage,  he  muttered, — '  Bulger, 
I'll  spare  five  hundred  pounds  to  hang  you,  and  travel 
five  hundred  miles  to  see  the  sight.' 

The  coal !  the  coal  1 '  shouted  several  voices,  and, 
unfortunately,  the  scoundrels  had  procured  one  in  the 
laundry.  '  By  heavens  !  they  will  burn  us  out,'  said 
Henry,  in  alarm.  '  Never  fear  1 '  replied  his  cooler 
uncle  ;  *  the  firing  must  have  been  heard  across  the  lake, 
and  we'll  soon  have  aid  sufficient.'  But  a  circumstance 
occurred,  almost  miraculously,  that  averted  the 
threatened  danger.  The  moon  became  suddenly  over- 
cast— heavy  rain- drops  fell — and  in  an  instant  an  over- 
whelming torrent  burst  from  the  clouds,  rendering 
every  attempt  the  robbers  made  to  ignite  the  thatch 


156  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

abortive.  '  Who  dare  doubt  an  over-ruling  Providence  ?' 
said  the  old  gentleman,  with  enthusiasm  :  surely  God 
is  with  us  1  ' 

"  The  storm  which  came  to  our  relief  appeared  to 
dispirit  our  assailants,  and  their  parley  recommenced. 
*  Morden,'  said  the  captain  of  the  banditti,  '  you  have 

Lord  's  rent  in  the  house  ;    give  us  a  thousand 

pounds,  and  we'll  go  off  and  leave  you.' 

''  '  All  I  promise  I'll  perform,'  said  the  old  gentleman, 
coldly.  *  Bulger,  for  this  night's  work  you  have  earned 
a  halter,  and  I'll  attend  and  see  you  hanged.' — *  Dash 
in  the  door,'  exclaimed  the  robber  in  a  fury  ;  '  we'll  have 
the  old  rogue's  heart  out !  '  A  volley  of  stones  rattled 
against  the  door,  but  produced  no  effect,  and  again  the 
robber  parleyed.  *  Will  you  give  us  a  hundred, 
Morden  ? '  *  Not  a  sixpence,'  was  the  laconic  answer. 
Once  more  stones  were  thrown,  shots  discharged,  and 
threats  of  vengeance  fulminated  by  the  exasperated 
villains.  At  last,  the  demand  was  reduced  to  *  Twelve 
guineas — a  guinea  for  each  man.'  '  They'll  be  off 
immediately,'  said  the  old  gentleman ;  *  they  know 
assistance  is  at  hand  :  would  that  we  could  amuse  them 
for  a  little  longer !  '  But  the  ruffians  were  already 
moving,  and  Miss  Morden  presently  announced  that 
they  were  embarking,  twelve  in  number,  in  a  boat. 
'  Now  for  a  parting  shot  or  two,'  said  Henry  Morden. 
We  picked  up  a  dozen  cartridges,  and  sallied  from  the 
house,  as  the  banditti  were  pulling  hard  across  the  lake. 
We  opened  a  quick  and  well-directed  fire,  which  they 
feebly  and  without  effect  replied  to.  While  a  musket 
ball  would  reach  them,  we  plied  them  liberally  with 
shot ;  and,  as  we  learned  afterwards,  mortally  wounded 
one    man,    and    slightly    injured    two    others.     As    we 


THE   COLONEL  S   STORY.  1 57 

returned  to  the  house,  we  met  some  fifty  countrymen, 
armed  with  all  sorts  of  rustic  weapons  coming  to  our 
relief.  Without  a  moment's  delay,  we  launched  boats, 
and  set  off  to  scour  the  country,  and  at  noon,  so  prompt 
and  vigorous  had  been  the  pursuit,  that  six  of  the  gang 
including   the    wounded    robbers,    were    secured. 

**  We  reached  '  the  Wilderness  *  completely  exhausted 
by  the  exertions  of  the  morning  and  the  fatigue  of  the 
preceding  night.  We  refreshed  ourselves  and  went  to 
bed — but  previous  to  returning  to  my  room,  I  visited 
the  scene  of  action.  Another  blow,  even  a  very  slight  one, 
must  have  driven  in  the  door  ;  and  in  the  rush  of  twelve 
desperate  ruffians,  the  chances  would  have  been  fearfully 
against  us.  Murphy  lay  upon  his  back — he  was  a 
disgusting  object.  The  ground  was  saturated  with  blood, 
for  the  charge  of  heavy  shot  made  as  large  a  wound  as 
a  cannon-bullet  would  occasion.  He  was  the  strongest 
brute  I  ever  saw  ;  not  more  than  five  feet  eight  inches 
in  height,  but  his  limbs,  body,  and  arms  were  a  giant's  ; 
he  was  a  blacksmith, — a  man  of  infamous  character, 
and  most  sanguinary  disposition. 

"  Our  escape  from  robbery  was  fortunate  indeed  ; 
Mr.  Morden  had  seven  thousand  pounds  that  night  in 
the  lodge,  for  he  had  just  received  the  rents  of  two 
estates.  It  was  almost  entirely  paid  in  specie — and  this 
was,  of  course,  known,  and  induced  two  desperate  bands, 
who  had  kept  the  adjoining  counties  in  alarm  since  the 
rebellion  was  suppressed,  to  unite  for  the  purpose  of 
robbing  *  the  Wilderness,'  and  securing  this  immense 
booty. 

'*  The  body  of  the  smith  was  sent  away,  and  buried 
in  the  jail- yard  of  the  neighbouring  town  ;  and,  having 
brought  the  battle  to  a  close,  I  shall  explain  some  matters 
ConncQted  with  this  daring  outrage. 


158  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

"  A  man  named  Mitchell  originated  the  intended 
robbery,  and  arranged  the  method  of  attack.  He  was 
a  slight,  low-sized  person,  but  his  activity  was  amazing, 
and  no  attempt  was  too  hazardous  for  his  desperate 
courage  to  undertake.  On  the  morning  of  his  execu- 
tion— (he,  with  the  three  others,  was  hanged  at  the 
subsequent  assizes) — ^he  gave  us  a  cool  detail  of  his 
plans. 

"  The  dogs  were  to  be  destroyed,  and  the  premises 
reconnoitred.  In  the  disguise  of  a  beggar  he  effected 
both  ;  laid  meat  prepared  with  arsenic  for  the  poor 
animals  ;  then  made  his  way  into  the  kitchen,  and 
ascertained  that  the  fastenings  of  the  back-door  were 
defective.  He  purposed  surprising  the  family  at  supper, 
or  forcing  an  entrance  when  they  were  asleep.  The 
first  attempt  he  made  at  the  drawing-room,  but  quickly 
perceiving  that  he  had  been  observed  by  Miss  Morden, 
he  retired  hastily.  A  council  was  held  by  the  robbers, 
and  it  was  fortunately  determined  to  postpone  the 
attack  until  the  family  had  gone  to  rest. 

*'  Nothing  could  be  bolder,  or  more  likely  to  succeed, 
than  Mitchell's  desperate  resolution.  It  was  to  leap 
feet  foremost  through  the  window,  and,  armed  with  a 
dagger,  to  fight  his  way,  if  opposed,  and  open  the  back 
door  for  his  associates.  He  made  the  attempt,  and 
providential  circumstances  alone  prevented  its  being 
successful.  That  very  morning  a  small  iron  bar  had 
been  placed  across  the  window  ;  it  caught  the  robber 
in  his  leap,  threw  him  back  with  violence,  and  the  noise 
united  to  the  outcries  of  the  idiot,  alarmed  the  family 
instantly. 

"  Circumstances,  they  say,  will  often  make  men  coura- 
geous.    In  this  case  it  had  the  same  effect  on  two  beings 


THE  COLONEL  S   STORY.  1 59 

of  a  very  different  description — a  lovely  girl  and  an 
idiot  boy.  Miss  Morden,  throughout  the  trying  scene, 
displayed  the  coolest  courage  ;  and  the  poor  simpleton, 
who  commonly  would  avoid  the  appearance  of  a  gun, 
armed  with  his  spit,  defended  the  breach  Uke  a  hero. 

"  We  met  at  dinner.  Julia,  Miss  Morden 's  cousin, 
would  hardly  venture  to  join  us,  for  her  brother  rated 
her  timidity  severely.  When  the  alarm  was  heard, 
the  fearful  girl  buried  her  face  beneath  the  bed-coverings, 
and  remained  in  pitiable  agitation  until  the  contest 
ended.  Mr.  Morden  took  her  from  his  daughter's 
arm,  kissed  her,  and  congratulated  her  on  their 
delivery  from  the  last  night's  danger. 

You  little  coward  ! '  said  the  old  man,  jocularly  ; 
*  you  must  give  your  deliverer  one  kiss  at  least  for 
your  preservation.'  The  blushing  girl  received  my 
salute.  Miss  Morden  took  my  hand.  *  You,  too, 
Emily,  will  you  not  reward  your  protector  ?  *  Without 
coquetry,  she  laid  her  lips  to  mine,  and  that  kiss  was  a 
sufficient  recompense  for  twice  the  peril  I  had 
encountered. 

"  But  for  me  no  praises  seemed  sufficient :  the  suc- 
cessful defence  was  attributed  to  my  exertions  ;  and  the 
fortunate  shot  that  killed  the  villain  smith  was  never 
to  be  sufficiently  commended. 

**  My  visit  ended.  /  was  in  love  with  Emily ;  but 
then  I  had  little  chance  of  succeeding  to  the  property 
which  afterwards,  by  a  chapter  of  accidents,  fell  to  me  ; 
and  a  company  of  foot  was  all  my  earthly  riches.  She 
was  an  heiress  ;  and  would  it  be  generous  to  take  advantage 
of  a  casual  service  to  press  a  suit  that  would  be  as  painful 
to  refuse  as  unlikely  to  be  granted  ?  I  mean  (so  says 
vanity)  by  Mr.  Morden.      No  1     I  overcame  the  temp- 


l6o  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

tation  of  risking  a  trial,  and  returned  to ford,  posses- 
sing the  esteem  and  good  wishes  of  every  inhabitant 
of  '  the  Wilderness.' 

"  I  was  on  parade  some  mornings  after  I  rejoined 
the  regiment,  when  a  horse,  splendidly  accoutred  with 
a  superb  tiger-skin,  holsters,  saddle,  and  every  housing 
fit  for  a  field  officer,  was  led  into  the  barrack- yard  by 
a  groom.  The  animal  was  a  perfect  picture  of  symmetry 
and  strength  ;  a  dark  chestnut,  sixteen  hands  high,  and 
worth,  at  least,  two  hundred  guineas.  The  groom  pre- 
sented me  a  letter  ;  it  was  from  Mr.  Morden — the  horse 
was  a  present. 

"  Emily  and  her  cousin  married  most  happily,  and  we 
have  often  met  since.  They  treat  me  as  sisters  would 
a  brother  ;  and  we  frequently  talk  of  the  night  attack 
upon  '  the  Wilderness.' 

"  Three  years  passed  away ;  the  gang  had  been 
incessantly  followed  by  Mr.  Morden,  and  were  extir- 
pated with  the  soUtary  exception  of  Captain  Bulger. 
Dreading  the  sleepless  vengeance  of  that  determined  old 
man,  this  ruffian  fled  the  country,  and  established 
himself  in  a  disaffected  district  of  the  south. 

"  In  the  interim  I  got  a  majority  in  the  Seventieth, 
then  quartered  in  Cork.  Soon  after  I  joined,  I  happened 
to  be  field  officer  of  the  day  on  which  a  notorious 
criminal  was  doomed  to  suffer.  The  regiment  had  given 
a  guard,  and  curiosity  induced  me  to  attend  the  execu- 
tion. 

"  I  entered  the  press-room.  In  a  few  minutes  the 
malefactor  appeared  in  white  grave-clothes,  attended  by 
two  priests.  It  was  '  mine  ancient  enemy,'  Bulger ! 
Suddenly  the  Sheriff  was  called  out,  and  after  a  short 
absence   returned,   accompanied    by   a   plain,   vigorous 


THE   COLONEL'S   STORY.  l6l 

country  gentleman,  enveloped  in  a  huge  driving-coat, 
and  apparently  like  one  who  had  travelled  a  consider- 
able distance. 

"  I  looked  at  the  criminal ;  he  was  the  ruin  of  a  power- 
ful man,  and  the  worst-visaged  scoundrel  imaginable. 
He  was  perfectly  unmoved,  and  preserved  a  callous  sort 
of  hardiesse  ;  and  as  the  priests  hurried  over  their  Latin 
prayers,  made  a  careless  response  whenever  they 
directed  him.  The  door  leading  to  the  drop  was  open, 
and  the  felon  looked  out  upon  the  crowd  most  earnestly. 
*  He  is  not  there ^^  he  murmured  :  '  he  caused  my  appre- 
hension^ hut  he  will  not  see  me  die  '  ;  and  added,  with 
a  grim  smile,  *  Morden,  you  neither  kept  your  word,  nor 
proved  your  prophecy !  '  The  muffled  stranger  stood 
suddenly  forward  :  ^  I  am  here,  Bulger  !  I  paid  jor 
your  apprehension,  and  have  come  some  hundred  miles 
to  witness  your  execution  I ' 

"  '  Morden,'  said  the  dying  felon,  solemnly,  *  if  a 
ghost  can  come  back  again,  Vll  visit  you  !  ' 

"  The  person  addressed  smiled  coldly  :  *  I  found 
you  unable  to  execute  your  threats  while  living,  and, 
believe  me,  I  apprehend  nothing  from  you  when  dead.' 

*'  The  clock  struck — the  sheriff  gave  the  signal — 
Bulger  advanced  to  the  scaffold — the  drop  fell,  and  in 
two  minutes  he  was  a  corpse." 


M 


1 62  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

"  Well,  I  like  a  man  to  keep  his  word,"  said  my 
relative  ;  "  and  I  admire  your  friend  Morden  pro- 
digiously for  his  punctual  attendance  on  Mr.  Bulger, 
when  he  made  his  parting  bow  to  an  admiring  multi- 
tude, and,  as  the  song  goes,  '  died  with  his  face  to  the 
city/  " 

"  There  is  little  danger,  after  all,"  said  the  Colonel, 
"to  be  apprehended  from  ruffian  force,  if  a  man's 
nerve  and  coolness  desert  him  not  at  the  pinch.  In  house 
attacks,  the  odds  are  infinitely  against  the  assailants. 
The  attempt  is  generally  made  in  the  dead  of  night  ; 
a  robber-party  are  never  sufficiently  organised  to  combine 
their  efforts  judiciously,  and  two  men  within,  if  properly 
armed  and  plentifully  supplied  with  ammunition,  are, 
in  my  opinion,  an  overmatch  for  a  dozen  outside  the 
doors." 

"  Calm  and  steady  courage  does  wonders,  certainly  ; 
and,  even  when  surprised  and  unprepared,  a  cool  man  will 
rarely  be  left  without  some  means  of  defence.  The 
Scotch  proverb  is  a  true  saw — *  A  gleg  (ready)  hand 
never  wanted  weapon.'  " 

"  There  never  was  a  better  illustration  of  that  truth 
than  the  heroic  resistance  offered  by  an  aged  gentleman- 
in  the  south  to  a  band  of  ruffians,  under  most  discouraging 
circumstances.  I  knew  him  intimately,"  continued  the 
Colonel  ;    "  and  I'll  briefly  give  you  the  story. 

"  Several  years  ago,  when  the  south  of  Ireland  was, 
as  it  has  ever  been  within  my  memory,  in  a  disturbed 
state,  a  gentleman,  advanced  in  years,  lived  in  a  retired 


I 


A   BRAVE    RESISTANCE.  163 

country-house.  He  was  a  bachelor ;  and  whether 
trusting  to  his  supposed  popularity,  or  imagining  that 
the  general  alarm  among  the  gentry  was  groundless, 
he  continued  in  his  lonely  mansion  long  after  his  neigh- 
bours had  deserted  theirs  for  a  safer  residence  in  town. 
He  had  been  indisposed  for  several  days  ;  and  on  the 
night  he  was  attacked  had  taken  supper  in  his  bedroom, 
which  was  on  the  ground-floor,  and  inside  a  parlour 
with  which  it  communicated.  The  servants  went  to 
bed  ;  the  house  was  shut  up  for  the  night  ;  and  the 
supper-tray,  with  its  appurtenances,  by  a  providential 
oversight,  forgotten  in  the  old  man's  chamber. 

'*  Some  hours  after  he  had  retired  to  bed,  he  was 
alarmed  at  hearing  a  window  lifted  in  the  outer  apart- 
ment ;  his  chamber  door  was  ajar,  and  the  moon  shone 
brilliantly  through  the  open  casement,  rendering  objects 
in  the  parlour  distinct  and  perceptible  to  any  person 
in  the  inner  room.  Presently  a  man  leaped  through 
the  window,  and  three  others  followed  him  in  quick 
succession.  The  old  gentleman  sprang  from  his  bed, 
but  unfortunately  there  were  no  arms  in  the  apartment. 
Recollecting,  however,  the  forgotten  supper-tray,  he 
provided  himself  with  a  case-knife,  and  resolutely  took 
his  stand  behind  the  open  door.  He  had  one  advantage 
over  the  murderers — they  were  in  full  moonlight,  and 
he  shrouded  in  impenetrable  darkness. 

**  A  momentary  hesitation  took  place  among  the  party, 
who  seemed  undecided  as  to  which  of  them  should  first 
enter  the  dark  room  ;  for,  acquainted  with  the  localities 
of  the  house,  they  knew  well  that  there  the  devoted 
victim  slept.  At  last  one  of  the  villains  cautiously 
approached,  stood  for  a  moment  in  the  doorway, 
hesitated,  advanced  a  step — not  a  whisper  was  heard. 


164  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

a  breathless  silence  reigned  around,  and  the  apartment 
before  him  was  dark  as  the  grave  itself.  *  Go  on,  blast 
ye  !  What  the  devil  are  ye  afeerd  of !  '  said  the  rough 
voice  of  an  associate  behind.  The  robber  took  a  second 
step,  and  the  old  man's  knife  was  buried  in  his  heart ! 
No  second  thrust  was  requisite,  for,  with  a  deep  groan, 
the  villain  sank  upon  the  floor. 

"  The  obscurity  of  the  chamber,  the  sudden  destruc- 
tion caused  by  that  deadly  thrust,  prevented  the  ruffians 
in  the  outer  room  from  knowing  the  fate  of  their  com- 
panion. A  second  presented  himself,  crossed  the 
threshold,  stumbled  against  his  dead  associate,  and 
received  the  old  man's  knife  in  his  bosom.  The  wound, 
though  mortal,  was  not  so  fatal  as  the  other  :  and  the 
ruffian  had  strength  to  ejaculate  that  he  was  *  a  dead 


man 


"  Instantly  several  shots  were  fired,  but  the  old 
gentleman's  position  sheltered  him  from  the  bullets. 
A  third  assassin  advanced,  levelled  a  long  fowling-piece 
through  the  doorway,  and  actually  rested  the  barrel 
against  the  old  man's  body.  The  direction,  however, 
was  a  slanting  one,  and,  with  admirable  self-possession, 
he  remained  steady  until  the  murderer  drew  the  trigger, 
and  the  ball  passed  him  without  injury.  But  the  flash 
from  the  gun  unfortunately  disclosed  the  place  of  his 
ambush,  and  then  commenced  a  desperate  struggle. 
The  robber,  a  powerful  and  athletic  ruffian,  closed 
and  seized  his  victim  round  the  body  ;  there  was  no 
equality  between  the  combatants  with  regard  to  strength  ; 
and  although  the  old  man  struck  often  and  furiously 
with  his  knife,  the  blows  were  ineffectual,  and  he  was 
at  last  thrown  heavily  on  the  floor,  with  the  murderer 
above   him.     Even   then,   at   that   awful   moment,   his 


A  BRAVE    RESISTANCE.  1 65 

presence  of  mind  saved  this  heroic  gentleman.  He 
found  that  the  blade  of  the  knife  had  turned,  and  he 
contrived  to  straighten  it  upon  the  floor.  The  ruffian's 
hands  v^ere  already  on  his  throat — the  pressure  became 
suffocating — a  few  moments  more,  and  the  contest 
must  have  ended  ;  but  an  accidental  movement  of  his 
body  exposed  the  murderer's  side  :  the  old  man  struck 
with  his  remaining  strength  one  desperate  blow — the 
robber's  grasp  relaxed — and,  with  a  yell  of  mortal 
agony,  he  fell  dead  across  his  exhausted  opponent ! 

"  Horror-struck  by  the  death-shriek  of  their  comrade, 
the  banditti  wanted  courage  to  enter  that  gloomy  chamber 
which  had  been  already  fatal  to  so  many.  They  poured 
an  irregular  volley  in,  and  leaping  through  the  open 
window,  ran  off,  leaving  their  lifeless  companions 
behind. 

**  Lights  and  assistance  came  presently — the  chamber 
was  a  pool  of  gore — and  the  old  man,  nearly  in  a  state 
of  insensibility,  was  covered  with  the  blood  and  encom- 
passed by  the  breathless  bodies  of  his  intended  mur- 
derers. He  recovered,  however,  to  enjoy  for  years 
his  well-won  reputation,  and  to  receive  from  the  Irish 
Viceroy  the  honour  of  knighthood,  which  never  was 
conferred  before  upon  a  braver  man." 


1 66  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 


CHAPTER  XXII, 


The  springs  have  commenced,  and  the  gray  and  lower- 
ing atmosphere  which  the  influence  of  these  tides 
occasion  has  set  in.  Ahhough  the  darkness  would 
intimate  a  change,  the  fresh  breeze  and  sky  appearances 
portend,  as  they  tell  me,  good  weather. 

We  are  bound  for  the  bay  to  lay  down  spillets  ;  and 
during  the  tedious  interval  which  of  necessity  occurs 
before  they  can  be  lifted,  we  shall  kill  coal-fish,  shoot 
sea-gulls,  smoke  cigars,  and,  no  doubt,  have  a  further 
detail  of  atrocities  from  the  Colonel,  which  would  put 
the  Newgate  Calendar  to  the  blush. 

The  mainsail  is  chalk-up^ — the  hooker  has  slipped 
her  cables,  and  hangs  by  a  single  end  to  the  pier, — and 
we  are  waiting  for  a  row-boat,  which  four  sturdy  peasants 
propel  with  might  and  main  from  the  opposite  shore. 
There  is  a  man  in  the  stern  sheets  who  engrosses  the 
undivided  attention  of  my  cousin  and  his  followers. 
The  boat  approaches,  and  '*  Blessed  Mary  !  can  it  be  .?  " 
there  sit  Hennessey  and  the  Colonel's  portmanteau  ! 
The  embassy  has  succeeded,  the  bustle  of  the  boatmen 
is  commensurate  to  the  importance  of  the  freight,  and 
they  give  way  in  the  full  consciousness  that  they  carry 
**  Csesar  and  his  saddle-bags." 

Mr.  Burke  has  made  the  amende  honorable ;  my 
cousin  looks  two  inches  taller,  and  hints  slyly  that  feudal 
power  in  Ballycroy  is  not  yet  extinct  ;  and  well  he  may, 
for  the  Colonel's  chattels  are  uninjured — no  rude  hand 
has  undone  a  buckle — not  a  shirt  is  wanting,  or  even  the 
fold  of  a  neck-cloth  disarranged.     There  is  a  mysterious 


SPILLET-FISHING-  1 67 

whispering  between  the  ambassador  and  Pattigo  ;  the 
commander  rejoices  over  his  wardrobe  ;  my  kinsman 
looks  *'  every  inch  a  king  "  ;  and  I  am  probably  the 
happiest  of  all,  for  I  trust  that  the  pleasant  narratives 
which  for  two  nights  robbed  me  of  my  rest,  like  ''  the 
thousand  and  one  "  of  Scheherazade,  have  at  last  drawn 
to  a  close. 

Did  a  man  wish  to  moralise  upon  the  unrealities  of 
human  expectations,  let  him  hang  over  a  spillet,  and  be 
interested  in  its  success.  Conceive  an  eternity  of  line 
with  a  thousand  hooks  at  given  distances — as  every 
snoud  is  placed  a  fathom  apart,  a  person  less  conversant 
with  figures  than  Joe  Hume  may  guess  the  total.  This 
endless  continuity  of  hemp  must  be  carefully  taken  up. 
Do  it  slowly,  and  the  thing  is  worse  than  a  penance  to 
Lough  Dergh  ;  and  if  you  attempt  rapidity,  the  odds  are 
that  the  back-line  breaks,  and  a  full  hour  will  scarcely 
remedy  the  mischief. 

It  would  puzzle  a  philosopher  to  determine  the  state 
of  affairs  in  ten-fathom  water  ;  and  if  you  shoot  in  foul 
ground,  you  will  probably  lose  the  spillet,  or  with  a 
world  of  labour  disentangle  a  moiety  from  rocks  and 
sea-weed.  Should  it,  however,  have  escaped  those 
casualties,  after  a  two  hours'  probation,  while  you  listen 
to  a  Drimindhu^  from  the  skipper,  and  the  exact  state  of 
the  herring-market  from  the  crew,  you  proceed  to  raise 
it.  Up  it  comes — that  vibratory  motion  announces  that 
a  fish  is  fast  upon  the  snoud  ;  conjecture  is  busily  at 
work,  and  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion,  whether 
*'  the  deceived  one  "  be  a  codling  or  red-gurnet.  It 
appears — a  worthless,  rascally  dog-fish  !  A  succession 
of  line  comes  in — starfish,  and  "  few  and  far  between/* 

*  A  melancholy  Irish  ditty. 


1 68  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

some  solitary  plaices  and  flounders — at  last  a  victim — 
heavy  and  unresisting.  An  indistinct  glance  of  a  dark 
object,  broad  as  a  tea-tray,  brings  the  assistant  spilleteer, 
gaff  in  hand,  to  the  quarter.  Alas  !  the  turbot  in  expec- 
tation turns  out  to  be  a  ray  !  Often  have  I  shot  a  spillet 
under  favourable  circumstances,  and  in  approved  ground, 
and  lost  time,  hooks,  and  snouds,  and  my  whole  reward 
was  a  boat-load  of  skates  and  dog-fish 

We  ran  quickly  with  a  leading  wind  to  the  fishing- 
bank,  and  having  shot  the  spillets — a  tedious  thing 
enough — stood  for  a  rocky  part  of  the  coast,  where  the 
coal-fish  are  always  abundant.  This  water-sport  (viz., 
coal-fishing)  is  unknown  "  to  the  many,"  and  yet  to 
him  whose  hands  are  not  unacquainted  with  rope  and 
oar,  it  affords,  at  times,  an  admirable  amusement. 

The  coal-fishing  requires  a  stiff  breeze,  and  if  there  be 
a  dark  sky  it  is  all  the  better.  In  its  detail,  it  is  perfectly 
similar  to  mackerel-fishing,  only  that  the  superior  size 
of  the  coal-fish  makes  stronger  tackle  and  a  heavier  lead 
indispensable. 

An  eel  of  seven  or  eight  inches  long  is  the  bait.  The 
head  being  removed,  the  hook  is  introduced  as  in  a 
minnow,  and  the  skin  brought  three  or  four  inches  up 
the  snoud.  This  latter  is  a  fine  line  of  two  or  three 
fathoms'  length,  affixed  to  the  trap -stick  and  lead, 
the  weight  of  which  latter  is  regulated  by  the  rate  of 
sailing. 

The  coal-fish,  in  weight,  varies  from  two  to  fourteen 
pounds  ;  it  is  finely  shaped,  immensely  rapid,  uniting 
the  action  of  the  salmon  with  the  voracity  of  the  pike. 
If  he  miss  his  first  dash,  he  will  follow  the  bait  to  the 
stern  of  the  boat,  and  I  have  often  hooked  them  within 
a  fathom  of  the  rudder. 


SPILLET-FISHING.  1 69 

Four  or  five  knots  an  hour  is  the  best  rate  of  sailing 
for  killing  coal-fish,  and  upon  a  coast  where  they  are 
abundant,  the  sport  at  times  is  excellent. 

Like  the  pike,  the  coal-fish  is  very  indiflFerent  to  the 
tackle  used,  which  is  generally  very  coarse.  Not  so 
the  mackerel  ;  he  requires  much  delicacy  of  line  and 
bait  to  induce  him  to  take. 

In  light  winds,  or  when  the  fish  are  out  of  humour,  T 
have  killed  mackerel  by  substituting  a  salmon  casting- 
line  of  single  gut  for  the  hempen  snoud  commonly 
employed  by  fishermen,  which,  with  a  newly-cut  bait  of 
phosphoric  brilliancy  commonly  overcame  his  resolve 
against  temptation.  But  there  are  times  when  a  change 
of  weather,  or  some  inexplicable  phenomena  of  sea  or 
sky,  renders  these  fish  dull  and  cautious  ;  for  usually 
it  requires  but  trifling  art  to  kill  them. 

A  little  experience  is  necessary.  The  bait  must  be 
cut  from  the  freshest  mackerel,  and  assimilated  in  size 
and  shape  to  the  herring-fry,  which  they  generally 
follow  ;  and  the  way  of  the  boat  must  be  so  regulated 
as  to  preserve  the  deception  by  a  sufficient  velocity, 
without  breaking,  by  its  rapidity,  the  mackerel's  hold. 
The  mouth  of  this  fish  is  particularly  tender  ;  and  if 
care  be  not  taken,  many  will  drop  from  the  hook  before 
they  can  be  secured  on  board. 

Unaccustomed  to  the  painful  effects  which  friction 
and  salt  water  occasion  hands  unused  to  hemp,  I  trans- 
ferred my  line  to  an  idle  boy  who  proved  a  much  more 
fortunate  coal-fisher  than  I,  notwithstanding  the 
instructions   of  my    friend    Pattigo. 

We  were  bearing  down  to  a  glorious  play  of  sea- 
birds,  and  I  got  a  gun  uncased  to  practise  at  the  gulls. 
It  was  a  curious  and  bustUng  scene.     Above,  thousands 


lyO  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

of  these  birds  were  congregated  in  a  small  circle,  scream- 
ing, and  rising,  and  dipping  over  a  dense  mass  of  fry, 
which  appeared  at  times  breaking  the  surface  of  the  water, 
while  grebes  and  puffins  of  many  varieties  were  perse- 
cuting those  unhappy  sprats  underneath.  As  we  bore 
down  I  fired  at  a  few  straggling  puffins.  Some  were 
missed,  some  disabled,  but  not  a  clean-killed  bird  1 
The  great  body  of  sea-fowl  appeared  so  much  engrossed 
with  their  predatory  pursuits,  as  to  neither  attend  to  the 
reports  of  the  gun,  or  notice  the  approach  of  the  hooker, 
until  the  boat's  bolt-sprit  seemed  almost  parting  this 
countless  host  of  floating  and  flying  plunderers. 

Bent  on  destruction,  I  waited  until  we  cleared  the  ball, 
and  reached  that  happy  distance  when  the  charge  should 
open  properly.  Pattigo  estimated  the  shot  would, 
moderately y  produce  a  stone  of  feathers.  I  fired  ;  a 
soHtary  gull  dropped  in  the  water,  and  half-a-dozen 
wounded  birds  separated  from  the  crowd,  and  went 
screaming  off  to  sea.  The  failure  was  a  melancholy 
one.  I  sank  immeasurably  in  the  estimation  of  the 
crew  as  an  artiste.  Pattigo 's  bag  of  feathers  was  but 
an  unrealised  dream — while  my  kinsman  muttered 
something  about  the  best  single  he  ever  possessed — and 
I,  to  cover  my  disgrace,  occupied  myself  with 
reloading 

'  I  can't  congratulate  you  on  your  gunnery,"  said 
my  cousin,  "  although  I  must  admit  that  it  required  some 
ingenuity  to  avoid  accidents  among  the  crowd.  But 
give  me  the  gun, — and  here  comes  a  victim,"  he  con- 
tinued, as  a  huge,  grey  gull,  reckless  of  danger,  wheeled 
as  they  will  do,  round  and  round  a  wounded  companion. 
*'  I  would  not  be  in  his  coat  for  half  the  hooker," 
said  Pattigo,  in  a  stage  whisper. 


SPILLET-FISHING. 


171 


**  The  Lord  look  to  him  !  "  exclaimed  another  boat- 
man, "  if  it  be  not  a  sin  to  pray  for  a  bird." 

"  He  shall  not  carry  his  life  to  the  water,"  rejoined 
the  Master,  as  he  laid  the  barrel  to  his  eye. 

But,  notwithstanding  prayer  and  prophecy,  the  gull 
merely  parted  a  few  feathers,  and  flew  off,  to  all  appear- 
ance, with  little  injury, 

"  By  everything  blind  1  "  exclaimed  my  kinsman, 
"  the  gun  must  have  been  charged  with  sawdust.  Ha  ! 
let's  see  the  flask  I  Frank,  Frank,  thou  art  a  careless 
gunner  ;    the  powder  is   not  worth    one  farthing." 

It  was  true.  I  had  forgotten  my  flask  in  the  pocket 
of  a  wet  cota  more*  and  consequently  the  powder  was 
spoiled. 

Nothing  puzzles  me  more,  with  the  exception  of 
keeping  the  Sheriff  at  a  distance,  than  preserving  gun- 
powder, and  preventing  my  arms  from  rusting  ;  and  it 
is  incredible  how  soon  the  humidity  of  this  climate 
spoils  the  one,  and  causes  the  other. 

"  My  grand  magazine  is  a  sort  of  basket,  secured 
with  a  Ud  and  padlock,  and  covered  with  a  sheep-skin, 
which,  like  the  coffin  of  Mahomet,  hangs  suspended 
between  sky  and  earth,  from  the  couples  of  the  kitchen. 
This  disposition  secures  it  alike  against  damp  and  acci- 
dent. My  arms  give  me  an  infinity  of  trouble,  but  by 
a  weekly  inspection    I  manage  to  keep  all  in  order. 

"It  is  marvellous  how  quickly,  even  with  moderate 
care,  powder  spoils.  With  my  attention  I  experience 
little  inconvenience,  as  I  always  warm  my  flask  by 
plunging  it  in  boiling  water  before  1  take  the  field. 
This    renders    the    powder    sufficiently    dry,    without 

*Anglice,  great-coat. 


172 


WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 


deteriorating  from  its  strength,  whicli  exposure  to  a 
stronger  heat  will  inevitably  occasion. 

"By  the  way,  I  have  had  more  actual  experience  in 
this  necessary  article  than  was  exactly  agreeable.  Come, 
we  will  bear  away  for  the  Lodge,  and  as  the  Colonel 
is  immersed  in  *  The  Packet,'  and  deep  in  the  debate, 
I  will  give  you  the  particulars.  In  powder  I  am  not 
'  ignarus  mali'  for  I  blew  myself  up,  or  made  an  excellent 
attempt, — and  burned  a  cabin  to  the  very  ground. 

**  Both  tales  are  briefly  told.  We  were  on  a  Christmas 
visit,  when,  a  slight  fall  of  snow  having  taken  place  over- 
night, the  host  proposed  that   1,  and   Captain  H 

of  the  7th  Dragoons,  should  go  out  and  shoot  snipes 
among  the  numerous  drains  by  which  his  lawn  was 
irrigated.  Guns  were  procured,  but  only  one  powder- 
flask  was  attainable,  and  it  was  to  be  a  partnership 
concern.  For  this  purpose  it  was  large  enough  in  all 
conscience,  being  an  old-fashioned  horn,  bound  with 
brass,  and  capable  of  holding  a  pound  of  powder.  We 
filled  it  to  the  top.  At  a  short  distance  from  the  house, 
a  snipe  sprang  unexpectedly — I  killed  it — and  in  attempt- 
ing to  reload,  the  charge  ignited  in  the  barrel,  and  the 
horn  blew  up  in  my  hand.  My  clothes  were  reduced 
to  tinder,  my  hat  scorched,  my  hair  and  eyebrows 
burned  oflF,  but,  excepting  a  slight  cut  in  my  hand, 
otherwise  I  was  perfectly  uninjured.  Not  a  fragment 
of  the  flask y  but  one  shattered  piece  of  horn,  could  be  found 

upon  the  unbroken  surface  of  the  snow.     H ,  who  was 

about  one  hundred  yards  distant  from  me,  described  the 
explosion  as  louder  than  the  report  of  a  nine-pounder  ; 
yet,  to  me,  the  noise  seem.ed  trifling.  Was  not  this 
escape  miraculous  ? 

"  The  second  explosion,  in  which  I  perpetrated  arson^ 


SPILLET-FISHING.  173 

occurred  some  ten  miles  up  the  river.  By  some  unhappy 
mischance,  I  toqjc  out  a  flask  of  condemned  powder,  and 
the  accident  was  not  discovered  until  it  was  too  late 
to  be  remedied.  To  dry  the  powder  was  the  alter- 
native ;  and  we  repaired  for  this  purpose  to  the  only 
house  within  four  miles  of  the  place,  a  shieling  occupied 
by  an  old  herdsman  and  his  wife. 

"  The  powder  was  spread  upon  a  wooden  platter,  and 
laid  at  a  sufficient  distance  from  the  fire  ;  and  while  I 
stirred  it  with  a  ramrod  at  a  distance,  one  of  my  atten- 
dants conceived  it  a  fitting  opportunity  to  roast  a  cast 
of  potatoes  in  the  embers.  Both  operations  went  forward 
successfully.  The  powder  was  almost  dry — the  potatoes 
nearly  roasted,  when  my  follower  ingeniously  con- 
trived to  introduce  a  coal  into  the  loose  powder.  This 
incident,  though  trifling  in  itself,  made  an  immediate 
alteration  in  affairs.  The  roof  of  the  cabin  was  dry 
as  tinder,  while  tow,  flax,  and  other  combustible  matters, 
were  stored  immediately  above  the  hearth.  In  a  moment 
all  was  in  flames — the  potato-roaster  blown  into  the 
corner,  and  I,  either  by  fear  or  gunpowder,  capsized 
in  another  direction. 

"  The  agony  of  the  poor  old  woman  who,  fortu- 
nately, was  outside  the  hovel  when  the  explosion  took 
place,  was  pitiable.  In  five  minutes  her  cabin  was  a 
ruin—and  to  her  that  wretched  shieling  was  worth  a 
marble  palace.  For  a  time  she  could  not  be  pacified. 
In  vain  she  was  assured  '  that  the  master  would  build 
her  a  new  house,  wider ^  and  bigger,  and  warmer,  ay,  and 
that  should  have  a  wooden  door ! '  but,  like  another 
Rachel,  she  mourned,  and  refused  to  be  comforted. 

"  Two  or  three  days  removed  her  sorrow,  I  sent 
assistance,  and,  progressing,  like  another  Aladdin,  the 


174  W^^'^  SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

cabin  rose,  Phoenix-like,  from  its  ashes.  It  is  now  the 
envy  of  the  passing  traveller  ;  and  as  the  old  couple  close 
their  wooden  door  at  night,  they  pray  for  the  Master's 
long  life,  and  bless  God  that  '  a  pound  of  powder  blew 
up  at  their  fire-side.' 

**  But  see  !  old  John's  signal  flies  at  the  flag-staff. 
In  with  that  endless  spillet,  Pattigo  !  Pshaw !  red 
gurnets,  codlings,  flat-fish,  with  skates  and  rays  eter- 
nally. Now,  out  reefs — on  with  the  big  jib — nay,  my 
dear  Colonel,  I  am  commander.  Ease  away  the  sheets. 
Ha  !  she  stoops  to  it !  Hish  !  she  travels.  Carry  on, 
Pattigo — the  Colonel  is  aboard,  *  Ccesarem  vehis !  * 
She  does  scrape  the  sand  a  little  ;  but  we  are  fairly  over 
the  bar — ^John's  dinner  signal  would  make  any  man 
a  hero." 


GUNS    AND   GUN -MAKING.  1 75 


CHAPTER  XXIIl 


It  was  nearly  dark,  but  the  night  was  calm  and  warm. 
I  stole  from  the  heated  room  to  indulge  in  a  luxurious 
smoke  al  fresco  ;  and  seated  upon  the  wall  of  the  little 
pier  puffed  away  in  Turkish  indolence.  The  swell 
upon  the  bar  was  particularly  distinct,  as  in  successive 
falls,  the  wave  burst  upon  the  sands,  and  ran  hissing  up 
the  beach,  till  its  volume  of  water  broke  and  subsided. 
The  tide  was  almost  out,  and  the  river  which  forms  the 
channel  of  the  estuary  would  hardly  reach  beyond  the 
knee  ;  and  I  thought  of  the  singular  contrast  that  existed 
between  the  quiet  stream,  now  scarcely  a  stone's  throw 
over,  and  the  fierce  and  lowering  water  which  a  westerly 
gale  forces  in,  rushing  every  moment  with  increased 
violence  from  the  ocean,  and  threatening  to  burst  over 
bank  and  rock  that  opposed  a  barrier  to  its  rage.  My 
musings  were,  however,  speedily  interrupted  ;  voices 
came  towards  me  from  opposite  directions,  and  loud  and 
frequent  laugh  replied  to  rustic  badinage  and  youthful 
romping.  My  cousin  joined  me,  and  from  him  I  ascer- 
tained that  the  jolly  parties  who  seemed  everywhere 
scattered  over  the  sands  beyond  the  river  were  the 
village  girls  assembled  to  collect  sand-eels,  an  employment 
they  would  pursue  till  the  returning  tide  filled  the  estuary 
again.  A  little  flat  punt,  which  the  servants  use  for 
bringing  spring  water  from  the  bent  banks,  was  speedily 
placed  upon  the  river,  and  we  pushed  over  to  the  opposite 
strand,  and  found  ourselves  surrounded  by  several 
hundreds  of  the  young  villagers  of  both  sexes,  who  were 
busily  engaged  in  this  curious  species  of  night-fishing. 


176  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

The  sand-eels  are  generally  from  four  to  nine  inches 
in  length,  and  lie  beneath  the  surface  seldom  deeper 
than  a  foot.  The  method  of  taking  them  is  very  simple  ; 
it  is  effected  by  passing  a  case-knife  or  sickle  with  a 
blunted  edge  quickly  through  the  sands  ;  and  by  this 
means  the  fish  is  brought  to  the  surface,  and  its  phos- 
phoric brilHancy  betrays  it  instantly.  At  the  particular 
times  during  the  summer  months  when  these  eels  run 
in  upon  the  estuary,  quantities  sufficient  to  fill  several 
barrels  have  been  collected  during  a  night.  When 
dressed  the  fish  is  reckoned  by  the  peasantry  a  great 
delicacy,  but  to  my  taste  it  is  much  too  strong.  But 
they  are  sought  after  for  other  purposes  ;  from  the 
particular  brilliancy  of  the  skin  they  make  an  admirable 
bait  for  flat-fish  ;  and  hence  a  spillet-settee  prefers 
them  to  every  other  kind,  as  they  are  much  more  durable 
than  the  lug,*  and  infinitely  preferable  to  eels  of  a 
coarser  size. 

A  crowd  of  a  more  youthful  description  of  the 
peasantry  are  collected  every  spring-tide  to  gather 
cockles  on  the  same  sands  by  dayUght  when  the  tide 
answers.  The  quantities  of  these  shell-fish  thus  pro- 
cured would  almost  exceed  belief  ;  and  I  have  frequently 
seen  more  than  would  load  a  donkey  collected  during 
one  tide  by  the  children  of  a  single  cabin.  They  form  a 
valuable  and  wholesome  addition  to  the  limited  variety 
that  the  Irish  peasant  boasts  at  his  humble  board  ;  and 
aflFord  children,  too  young  for  other  tasks,  a  safe  and  useful 
employment. 

Indeed,  its  plentiful  supply  of  shell-fish  may  be 
enumerated  among  the  principal  advantages  which 
this  wild  coast  offers  to  its  inhabitants.  Along  the 
*  The  sand -worm  used  by  fishermen. 


GUNS    AND   GUN-MAKING.  177 

cliffs,  whether  in  the  islands  or  on  the  main,  lobsters 
are  found  in  abundance  ;  and  if  the  peasantry  possessed 
the  necessary  means  for  prosecuting  the  fishery,  it  might 
at  times  afford  them  a  lucrative  employment.  But, 
simple  as  the  apparatus  is,  they  do  not  possess  it  ;  and 
the  lobsters  obtained  by  sinking  pots  and  baskets  in  the 
deep  sea  are  taken  by  strangers,  who  come  for  this 
purpose  from  a  considerable  distance.  Those  killed 
by  the  islanders  are  only  procurable  at  low  springs, 
when  the  ebbing  of  the  water  beyond  its  customary 
limits  permits  caves  and  crannies  in  the  rocks  being 
investigated,  which,  in  ordinary  tides,  could  not  be 
entered. 

Crabs  are  found  on  this  coast  of  considerable  size 
and  sufficiently  numerous.  Like  the  lobsters,  they  are 
only  accidentally  procured  ;  but  there  is  no  doubt 
but  a  large  supply  could  be  obtained  if  proper  means 
were  employed  to  take  them. 

The  most  esteemed  of  all  the  shell-fish  tribe  by  the 
western  fishermen  is  the  scallop,  which  here  is,  indeed, 
of  very  superior  size  and  flavour.  They  are  commonly 
found  by  the  oyster  dredgers  in  deep  water  ;  and  are 
estimated  so  highly  as  a  luxury,  as  to  cause  their  being 
transferred  to  the  next  gentleman  who  may  have  been 
serviceable  to  the  peasant  who  finds  them,  or  whose 
future  favour  it  may  be  advisable  to  propitiate.  Indeed, 
in  former  days,  and  those,  too,  not  very  distant  from 
our  own  times,  to  approach  a  justice  of  the  peace  without 
"  a  trifle  for  his  honour"  would  be  an  offence  of  passing 
magnitude  ;  a  basket  of  chickens,  a  cleave  of  scallops, 
or  an  ass-load  of  oysters,  harbingered  the  aggriever  and 
the  aggrieved.  If  these  formula  were  not  duly  attended 
to,  the  fountain  of  law  was  hermetically  sealed  ;    and  a 


178  WILD  SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

house  functionary — for  all  the  servants  on  the  estab- 
lishment were  "  four  pound  constables  " — announced 
that  "  his  honour  would  do  no  justice,"  and  bundled 
off  the  applicant  to  someone  more  approachable  of  his 
Majesty's  numerous  and  poor  esquires. 

The  oysters  found  in  the  bays  and  estuaries  along 
this  coast  are  of  a  very  superior  quality  ;  and  their 
quantity  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  on  the  shores 
where  they  are  bedded,  a  turf-basket  large  enough  to 
contain  six  or  seven  hundred  can  be  filled  for  a  six- 
pence. A  couple  of  men  will  easily,  and  in  a  few  hours, 
lift  a  horse-load  ! — and,  notwithstanding  the  numbers 
carried  off  by  sailing-boats  from  Clare  and  Munster, 
the  stock  appears  to  be  little  reduced  by  the  constant 
dredging.  There  are  besides  these,  other  shell-fishes 
greatly  prized  by  the  peasantry,  but  which  I  had  never 
had  the  curiosity  to  eat,  such  as  razor-fish,  clams,  and 
various  kinds  of  mussels.  These  occasionally  make 
a  welcome  change  in  the  otherwise  unvarying 
potato  diet ;  and,  better  still,  employ  the  idler  members 
of  the  family,  whose  youth  or  age  unfits  them  for  more 
laborious  exertions. 

We  dallied  so  long  among  the  fairer  portion  of  the 
sand-eel  fishers,  that  the  tide  insensibly  rose  ;  and  when 
we  reached  the  place  where  our  punt  had  been  secured, 
we  discovered  that  the  water  had  crept  up  the  sands, 
and  floated  the  frail  skiff  away.  To  hail  and  get  a  boat  - 
from  the  Lodge,  from  the  calmness  of  the  night,  was 
readily  effected  ;  and  while  it  was  being  launched  down 
the  beach,  my  kinsman  told  me  that  it  was  not  the  first 
time  that  the  treacherous  punt  had  played  truant  to 
its  crew. 

"  On  a  stormy  evening  one  of  the  boatmen  was  ordered 


GUNS    AND   GUN- MAKING.  1 79 

to  cross  the  estuary  for  spring-water,  and  set  out 
accordingly  for  a  supply,  accompanied  by  a  wild-looking 
and  nondescript  animal  who  infests  the  premises, 
who  is  known  to  the  establishment  by  the  name 
of  '  Achil.'  The  river  was  flooded,  the  evening  stormy, 
and  Peeterein,  after  leaving  his  coadjutor  in  strict  charge 
of  the  skiff,  set  off  to  fill  his  water  vessels,  and  to  return, 
if  possible,  before  the  dusk  had  fallen  into  darkness. 
Achil,  as  the  evening  was  chilly,  lay  down  in  the  bottom 
of  the  skiff  to  shelter  himself  from  the  piercing  east 
wind  ;  and,  in  place  of  keeping  watch  and  ward  like 
an  able  mariner,  composed  himself  to  sleep.  Mean- 
while the  river  rose  fearfully  ;  the  breeze  freshened 
into  a  gale  ;  and  when  Peeterein  hurried  back  with  his 
water- vessels,  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  punt 
half-a-mile  down  channel  hurrying  as  fast  as  a  flooded 
river  and  a  freshening  storm  could  urge  it  to  the  bar, 
which  now  broke  in  thunder.  I  had  been  shooting 
on  this  side,  and  reached  the  strand  while  Peeterein 
was  hallooing  for  assistance.  A  boat  was  rapidly 
despatched — the  skiff,  when  its  destruction  appeared 
inevitable,  was  overtaken,  and  Achil  found  as  comfort- 
ably asleep  as  if  he  were  in  his  accustomed  crib  in  the 
barn.  The  ebullitions  of  Peeterein's  sorrow,  while  the 
fate  of  skiff  and  boy  was  still  uncertain,  astonished  me  ; 
and  when  I  saw  the  punt  in  tow,  I  observed  that  as  the 
boy  was  recovered,  he  might  now  cease  his  lamentations. 
— *  The  Lord  be  blessed  !  there  she  is  :  another  minute 
would  have  made  noggin-staves  of  her  '  Arrah  !  and 
did  ye  think  it  was  Achil  I  was  frettin'  after — the  devil 
pursue  him  for  an  unlucky  member  !  No,  faith — I 
was  in  sore  distress,  for  my  brother's  shoes  were  aboard  /  '  " 
We   were   assembled   round   the   breakfast-table   this 


l8o  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

morning,  and  it  was  a  questionable  affair  whether  we 
should  pass  the  forenoon  in  the  warren,  or  shoot  a  spillet 
on  the  banks,  when  the  conclave  was  dissolved  by  one 
of  those  incidental  alarms  that  diversify  the  rustic 
monotony  of  our  commonplace  existence.  The  spring- 
tide had  left  the  channel  nearly  dry,  and  except  in  some 
deep  pools,  the  water  was  but  ankle-deep.  Into  one 
of  these  an  unlucky  seal  had  been  seduced  in  pursuit 
of  a  salmon,  and  his  retreat  was  cut  off  before  he  was 
aware  that  his  ill-timed  chasse  would  cause  his  ruin. 
On  his  being  discovered,  a  host  of  cockle-gatherers 
formed  across  the  neck  of  the  hole,  while  a  breathless 
courier  brought  the  tidings  to  the  Lodge.  Instantly 
all  was  bustle  ;  a  salmon-net  was  procured,  and  the  whole 
of  the  '*  Dramatis  Personse,"  even  to  the  Colonel  and  the 
Priest,  were  speedily  armed  with  divers  and  deadly 
implements.  Old  Antony  had  hobbled  off  at  the  first 
alarm,  and,  by  the  prudent  plan  of  taking  time  by  the 
forelock,  managed  to  be  the  first  man  at  the  scene  of 
action.  It  was  a  deep  and  rather  an  extensive  pool, 
and  the  unfortunate  seal  absconded  to  the  place  most 
likely  to  afford  concealment  till  the  flood-tide  should 
liberate  him  from  the  hand  of  his  enemies.  But,  alas  ! 
they  were  many  and  malignant ;  and,  driven  from  his 
deepest  and  last  retreat,  to  avoid  being  meshed  in  the 
net,  he  was  forced  upon  the  shoal,  when  an  otter- 
spear,  struck  to  the  socket  of  the  grains  by  the  vigorous 
arm  of  Hennessey,  killed  him  without  a  struggle.  When 
the  net  was  brought  ashore,  the  moiety  of  a  large  salmon 
remained  in  the  meshes,  and  told  the  errand  which  in- 
duced the  defunct  seal  to  commit  himself  to  the  faithless 
shoals  which  proved  so  fatal  to  him. 

This  is,  indeed,  a  day  of  incidents.     Dinner  was  just 


GUNS    AND   GUN-MAKING.  l8l 

removed,  when,  on  the  top  of  flood,  a  coast-guard  galley 
ran  in  with  a  leading  breeze  from  the  westward.  The 
very  elegant  proportions  of  the  boat,  the  happy  attitude, 
the  snowy  whiteness  of  her  large  lugs,  as,  with  the 
favourable  light  which  a  sunless  but  clear  blue  sky 
gave,  she  rounded  the  headland,  and  came  up  like  a 
race-horse  to  the  pier,  had  called  our  undivided  attention 
to  her  arrival.  While  conjecture  was  busy  as  to  what 
her  business  might  be,  we  observed  a  man  with  his  arm 
slung  in  a  handkerchief,  and  apparently  in  considerable 
pain,  leave  her.  The  cause  was  soon  ascertained,  for 
a  serious  accident  had  occurred,  and  we  all  adjourned 
to  the  kitchen,  where  Antony  was  already  occupied 
with  the  wound. 

It  appeared  that  a  gun,  with  which  the  poor  fellow 
had  been  shooting  rabbits,  had  burst  and  shattered  his 
hand  ;  and  when  I  saw  the  whole  of  the  palm  sadly 
lacerated,  and  the  thumb  attached  by  a  small  portion 
of  the  muscles,  I  really  feared  to  save  it  was  a  hopeless 
task.  But  Antony  and  my  kinsman  thought  differently. 
The  old  man  bound  the  wound  up  with  a  professional 
neatness  that  I  could  not  have  expected  from  him  ; 
the  patient  was  accommodated  in  the  Lodge,  and  in  a 
fortnight  the  galley  again  returned,  to  bring  him, 
thoroughly  convalescent,  to  his  station. 

1  had  some  curiosity  to  examine  the  unlucky  gun 
that  caused  the  mischief.  There  was  a  longitudinal 
rent  along  the  barrel,  of  seven  or  eight  inches,  termi- 
nating where  the  left  hand  usually  grasps  the  stock. 
There  had,  no  doubt,  been  a  deep  flaw  in  the  inside  of 
the  metal  ;  for  the  wounded  man  declared  that  he  had 
not  loaded  the  gun  beyond  the  customary  charge. 

It  proved  to  be  one  of  those  wretched  affairs  whicli 


1 82  WILD   SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

are  constantly  smuggled  into  Ireland,  and  sold  under 
the  denomination  of  London  guns,  but  which,  it  is  well 
known,  are  fabricated  in  Birmingham  ;  and  the  extent 
to  which  this  dangerous  imposition  upon  public  safety 
is  carried  would  scarcely  be  credited.  There  is  a 
constant  demand  in  this  unhappy  country  for  fire-arms  ; 
the  well-affected  and  disaffected  seek  them  for  very 
different  purposes  ; — one  wants  them  for  defence,  the 
other  requires  them  for  aggression  ;  and  every  steamer 
that  arrives  from  Liverpool  has  generally  some  stands 
of  contraband  arms  on  board. 

When  a  gun  begins  to  exhibit  symptoms  of  having 
done  its  work,  the  sooner  a  man  discards  it  the  better. 
An  injured  barrel,  or  enfeebled  lock,  may  prove  fatal 
to  the  owner  or  his  associates.  Accidents  every  day 
occur,  and  very  lamentable  consequences  arise  from  a 
culpable  neglect  in  retaining  arms  that  should  be  declared 
unserviceable,  and,  of  course,  disused. 

I  had  once  a  favourite  gun,  which,  from  constant  wear 
and  tear,  exhibited  unequivocal  weakness  in  the  lock, 
and  which  I  had  been  earnestly  recommended  by  a 
veteran  sportsman  to  discard.     On  a  cold  and  rainy  day 

I  was  with  my  friend,  O'M ,  shooting  woodcocks 

in  the  heath,  and  having  sprung  several,  which,  from 
the  severity  of  the  weather,  were  as  wild  as  hawks,  we 
marked  them  into  a  ravine,  and  determined  to  tie  up  the 
dogs,  and  endeavour  to  steal  upon  them.  To  keep  my 
gun  dry,  I  placed  it  under  the  skirt  of  my  jacket,  with  the 
muzzle  pointing  downwards.  My  companion  and  our 
attendant  were  busy  coupling  the  dogs,  when  the  gun 

exploded,   and   the   charge   passed   between   O'M 's 

bosom  and  the  back  of  a  dog  he  was  in  the  act  of  securing, 
buried  itself  at  the  foot  of  the  keeper,  covering  him  with 


GUNS    AND  GUN-MAKING.  1 83 

mud  and  graveL  From  the  close  manner  in  which  we 
were  all  grouped,  how  the  shot  could  have  entered  the 
ground,  without  killing  men  or  dogs,  or  both,  was 
miraculous.  I  was  desperately  frightened,  and  from 
that  moment  foreswore,  for  ever,  the  use  of  weakened 
locks  and  attenuated  barrels. 


84  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


I  VERILY  believe  that  no  people  upon  earth  are  more 
easily  satisfied  in  roads  than  the  natives  in  Ballyveeney. 
A  narrow  strip  of  rough  gravel  along  the  sea-beach — a 
mountain  watercourse,  tolerably  disencumbered  of  its 
rocks,  or  practicable  passage  across  a  bog,  provided  it 
be  but  fetlock  deep,  are  considered  by  the  inhabitants 
of  this  wild  peninsula  to  be  excellent  horseways. 

That  accidents  do  not  more  frequently  occur  is  mar- 
vellous. But  the  horse  is  born  in  the  wilderness,  and 
if  there  be  a  practicable  path,  he  appears  to  know  it 
by  intuition.  Hence,  the  rider  traverses  with  impunity 
a  morass  in  which  Colonel  Thornton  would  have  been 
ingulfed,  and  skirts  a  dizzy  precipice  with  no  more 
apprehension  that  a  cockney  wayfaring  upon  a  turnpike 
trust.  "  Use  lessens  marvel,"  quoth  Sir  Walter  Scott, — 
and  I,  who  formerly  witnessed  the  accoutrement  of 
these  Calmuck-looking  coursers,  with  a  lively  anticipa- 
tion of  broken  bones,  now  stumble  through  a  defile,  or 
cross  a  bog,  with  all  the  indifference  of  a  native. 

Having  despatched  the  dogs  and  keeper,  we  arranged 
our  beat,  and  started  after  breakfast.  The  road  by 
which  we  reached  our  shooting-ground  is  the  sole  means 
by  which  this,  our  terra  incognita^  is  connected  with  the 
rest  of  Christendom.  It  is  rough  and  dangerous  in  the 
extreme,  and  impracticable  to  every  quadruped  but 
the  ponies  of  the  country.  In  place  of  mile-stones 
which  mark  better  frequented  roads,  heaps  of  irregularly- 
sized  pebbles  meet  the  eye,  and  a  stranger  will  be  at  a 
loss  to  assign  their  uses.     They  are  melancholy  memorials 


ON  THE  MOORS.  1 85 

of  uncivilized   society,   and   either   mark  the   scene   of 
murder,  or  the  place  where  a  corpse  has  been  rested  in 
the  progress  of  a  funeral.     These  tumuli  are  numerous 
— and  many  a  wild  and  fearful  record  of  former  violence 
is  associated  with  them.     The  greater  portion  of  these 
cairns  record  loss  of  life,  consequent  upon  drunkenness  ; 
and  the  stone,  at  present,  appears  as  fatal  as  the  middoge 
in  former  days.     This  weapon,  I  believe,  was  almost 
confined  to  the  west  of  Ireland,  and  at  this  time  is  rarely 
met  with.     Yet,   some   centuries   back  it  was   as   con- 
stantly borne  by  the  Milesians   as  the  dirk  in  the  High- 
lands and  the  stiletto  in  Italy.      All  the  legendary  tales 
of  blood  usually  employ  it  as  the  means  of  violence  ; 
and  old  Antony  says    that  in  his  youth  the  old  people 
shuddered  when  they  named  it.     I  never  saw  but  one  ; 
it  was  a  broad-bladed  dagger,  about  fifteen  inches  long, 
of  clumsy  workmanship,  and  hafted  with  a  piece  of  deer's 
horn.     From  the  formidable  figure  the  middoge  cuts  in 
ancient  chronicles,  the  temper  of  the  blade  was  supposed 
to  be  superior  to  any  weapon  forged  in  these  degenerate 
days  ;    and  I  heard  an  old  man  assert  that  he  had  seen 
one,  which,  when  held  up  and  let  fall  perpendicularly, 
but  a  few  feet,  would  pierce  through  three  half-crown 
pieces — Credat  Jiidceus  I — This  interesting  and  valuable 
implem^ent,  according  to  his  account,  was  lost  "  during 
the  French,"  that  is,  at  the  period  of  the  French  invasion 
in  '98. 

We  left  our  horses  at  the  old  bridge  of  Ballyveeney, 
and  proceeded  to  make  an  extensive  circle  of  the  moors, 
skirting,  as  we  went  along,  the  bases  of  the  ridge  of 
hills  which  shuts  out  Erris  from  the  interior. 

It  was  eleven  o'clock  when  the  dogs  were  uncoupled. 
The  breeze  was  brisk  and  warm,  and  the  ground  was 


1 86  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

either  undulated  into  hillocks,  or  intersected  by  rivulets, 
whose  broken  banks  were  thickly  covered  with  luxurious 
heath.  It  was  a  beat  on  which  a  grouse-shooter  would 
risk  a  kingdom, — ^it  realised  our  expectations,  and  we 
found  game  abundantly. 

Hunting  for  grouse  during  the  basking  hour  of  the  day  is 
rigidly  prohibited  by  all  gentlemen  who  compile  sporting 
directories  ;  and  yet  every  shooter  knows  that  at  these 
proscribed  hours  himself  is  commonly  on  the  moors. 
Morning  and  evening,  when  the  birds  are  on  foot  in 
search  of  food,  is  undoubtedly  preferable  to  the  duller 
portion  of  the  day,  when  they  are  accustomed  to  indulge 
in  a  siesta.  But  generally  some  considerable  distance 
must  be  travelled  before  the  sportsman  can  reach  his 
beat  from  his  quarters.  The  morning  is  consumed  on 
horseback  or  in  the  shooting-cart ;  the  same  road  must 
be  again  accomplished  before  night ;  and  hence,  the 
middle  of  the  day  is,  of  necessity,  the  portion  devoted 
to  the  pursuit  of  game. 

To  find  the  birds,  when,  satisfied  with  food,  they  leave 
the  moor  to  bask  in  some  favourite  haunt,  requires 
both  patience  and  experience  ;  and  here  the  mountain- 
bred  sportsman  proves  his  superiority  over  the  less- 
practised  shooter.  The  packs  then  lie  closely,  and 
occupy  a  small  surface  on  some  sunny  brow  or  sheltered 
hollow.  The  best-nosed  dogs  will  pass  within  a  few 
yards,  and  not  acknowledge  them  ;  and  patient  hunting, 
with  every  advantage  of  the  wind,  must  be  employed 
to  find  grouse  at  this  dull  hour. 

But  if  close  and  judicious  hunting  be  necessary,  the 
places  to  be  beaten  are  comparatively  few,  and  the 
sportsman's  eye  readily  detects  the  spot  where  the  pack 
is  sure  to  be  discovered.     He  leaves  the  open  feeding- 


ON  THE  MOORS.  1 87 

grounds  for  heathery  knowes  and  sheltered  valleys 
— and,  while  the  uninitiated  wearies  his  dogs  in  vain 
over  the  hillside,  where  the  birds,  hours  before,  might 
have  been  expected,  the  older  sportsman  profits  by  his 
experience,  and  seldom  fails  in  discovering  the  dell  or 
hillock  where,  in  fancied  security,  the  indolent  pack 
is  reposing. 

We  had  been  upon  the  moors  some  hours — our  walk 
was  enlivened  by  success,  and  the  time  had  arrived  when 
the  commissariat  was  required,  and  old  John's  supplies 
were  ordered  from  the  rear.  A  rivulet  was  reported  to 
he  just  round  the  hilly  and  thither  our  course  was  directed. 
We  turned  a  rugged  brow  suddenly,  and  never  did 
a  sweeter  spot  present  itself  to  an  exhausted  sportsman  ; 
and  resting  on  the  bank  of  a  ravine,  where  a  small  stream 
trickled  over  a  precipice,  forming  beneath  its  brow  a 
basin  of  crystal  water,  we  selected  this  for  our  "  bivouac.'' 
Wild  myrtle  and  shrub -like  heather  closed  the  opposite 
sides,  and  one  spot,  where  the  rivulet  elbowed  back,  was 
covered  with  short  green  moss,  that  seemed  rather  an 
effort  of  human  art  than  a  piece  of  natural  arrangement. 
Here  we  rested — and  while  baskets  were  unpacked, 
and  the  cloth  extended  upon  the  velvet  surface  we 
reposed  upon,  I  looked  with  feelings  which  I  cannot 
describe  upon  the  wild  and  melancholy  scene  below. 
It  was  a  ruined  chapel  and  deserted  burying-place — 
one  gable  of  the  building  alone  was  standing,  and,  from 
beneath  the  ivied  wall,  a  spring  gushed  out  and  united 
itself  with  the  rivulet  I  have  described.  A  stone  cross, 
whose  rude  workmanship  showed  its  antiquity,  was 
erected  beside  the  fountain  ;  and  although  the  cemetery 
had  long  since  been  deserted,  a  circle  round  the  well 
was  freshly  worn  in  the  turf,  and  a  woman  at  the  moment 


1 88  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

was  performing  an  act  of  devotion,  on  her  bare  knees, 
making  an  occasional  pause,  to  offer  up  a  prayer  and  drop 
a  bead  from  her  rosary. 

The  valley  had  a  solemn  and  imposing  character  ; 
everything  about  it  was  lonely  and  desolate.  No  traces 
of  human  visits  were  discernible  ;  no  pathway  led  to 
the  ruin, — all  was  deep,  unbroken  solitude  ;  a  hallowed 
and  melancholy  spot,  where  the  living  seldom  presumed 
to  approach  the  mansions  of  the  dead. 

The  breeze  fell,  the  air  became  unusually  oppressive, 
the  hill  behind  robbed  us  of  the  little  wind  that  still  par- 
tially cooled  the  sultry  atmosphere  ;  a  distant  muttering 
among  the  mountains  was  faintly  heard,  and  a  sound 
like  a  rising  stream  was  audible.  Suddenly,  a  black 
cloud  rose  like  magic  upon  the  summit  of  the  mountain, 
and  a  flash  of  light  succeeded.  "  The  storm  is  on," 
said  my  kinsman,  and  leaving  the  attendants  to  discuss 
the  fragments  of  the  feast,  where  they  might  best  obtain 
shelter,  we  hurried  down  the  hill,  and  couched  beneath 
the  ruins  of  the  chapel. 

There  is  more  grandeur  in  an  Alpine  storm  than  can 
be  imagined  by  those  who  have  not  witnessed  its  effect. 
As  the  thunder  crashes  over  the  hills,  and  miles  away  is 
reverberated  from  the  opposite  mountains,  the  loneliness 
of  the  wilderness  is  in  fine  keeping  with  the  anger  of 
the  elements.  The  rain-drops  now  fell  faster — quick 
and  vivid  flashes  burst  from  the  southern  heavens, 
and  roll  after  roll  succeeded,  like  sustained  discharges 
of  artillery.  The  dogs,  in  evident  alarm,  cowered  at  our 
feet,  soliciting  mortal  protection  from  what,  instinct 
told  them,  were  the  visitations  of  an  awful  power. 
Suddenly,  one  prolonged  and  terrific  crash  burst  over- 
head— a  deluge  of  rain  descended — and  rapidly  as  it 


ON   THE    MOORS.  1 89 

came  on,  the  storm  passed  away — ^the  peals  became 
fewer  and  more  distant,  and  in  five  minutes  died  in 
sullen  murmurs  among  the  distant  hills. 

"  Is  not  this,  indeed,  sublimity  ?  "  said  my  kinsman, 
as  he  broke  a  silence  of  some  minutes.  ''  To  convey 
ideas  of  the  grand  and  terrible,  give  me  a  storm  in  the 
mountains,  and  let  it  be  viewed  thus  :  sheltered  by  the 
ivied  walls  of  a  '  toppling  '  ruin,  and  surrounded  by 
the  dwellings  of  the  dead." 

"  How  comes  it,"  I  inquired,  "  that,  contrary  to  the 
known  attachment  of  the  lower  Irish  for  ancient  places 
of  interment,  this  seems  to  be  neglected  and  disused  ?  " 

"  You  are  right,"  he  replied  ;  "  although  it  was  once 
the  only  burying-ground  to  which  the  inhabitants  of 
this  district  conveyed  the  dead  for  interment,  more  than 
two  centuries  have  elapsed  since  it  has  been  abandoned. 
There  is  a  curious  tradition  connected  with  its  desecra- 
tion which  Antony  will  be  too  happy  in  narrating,  and 
as  the  clouds  appear  collecting  on  the  hills,  I  propose 
that  we  retreat  in  good  time,  for  it  is  rare  to  find  such 
shelter  on  the  moors  as  that  afforded  us  by  the  ruins 
of   Knock-a-thample."* 

Even  the  sublime  and  beautiful  may  be  enjoyed  to 
satiety,  and  we  agreed  that  one  thunder-storm  is  suffi- 
cient for  the  day.  The  game-bags,  upon  examination, 
produced  twenty  brace  of  grouse  and  a  leash  of  moun- 
tain hares.  For  moderate  men  we  had  done  enough, 
and  we  could  dispense  with  the  evening  shooting 
Accordingly,  we  left  our  attendants  to  follow  at  their 
leisure,  and  mounting  our  Cossack  cavalry,  set  off  at 
a  killing  pace,  "  over  bank,  bush,  and  scaur,"  nor  drew 

*  Anglice,  The  church  of  the  hill. 


190  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

bridle  until  we  reached  the  sand-banks,  where  the 
boat,  with  Pattigo  and  his  companions,  was  awaiting 
our  arrival. 

Nor  have  we  been  the  only  denizens  of  the  Lodge 
whose  exertions  have  this  day  been  successful.  The 
Colonel  has  spent  the  forenoon  in  the  sand-banks,  much 
to  his  own  satisfaction,  in  slaying  rabbits,  and  studying 
the  Morning  Post.  To  unite  the  sportsman  and  politi- 
cian may  at  first  sight  seem  difficult — but,  ensconcing 
himself  in  a  good  position,  the  commander  waits 
patiently  for  a  shot,  and,  confiding  loading  and  look-out 
to  Andy  Bawn^  whose  attentions  since  the  unfortunate 
affair  of  the  portmanteau  have  been  redoubled,  he 
coolly  proceeds  with  the  debate^  until  a  rabbit  is  reported 
within  range  of  the  favourite  Spanish  barrel,  by  his 
assistant  gunner.  This  mode  of  shooting  the  Colonel 
recommends,  provided  the  day  and  the  debate  be  warm. 
In  winter,  he  may  be  induced  occasionally  to  take  the 
side  of  a  sunny  cover,  but  gout  and  rheumatism  are 
ever  present  to  his  imagination,  and  he  would  not  "  wet 
a  foot  for  all  the  birds  upon  Brae  Mar." 

After  dinner  I  reminded  my  kinsman  of  the  promised 
legend  of  Ejiock-a-thample,  and  the  otter-killer  was 
ordered  to  the  presence.  But  on  inquiry,  Antony  had 
been  professionally  called  off  to  a  distant  village  upon 
the  coast  to  minister  to  a  broken  head,  and  had  taken 
his  departure  in  a  four-oared  boat,  with  as  much  cere- 
mony as  though  he  had  been  surgeon-general.  I  felt, 
and  expressed,  my  disappointment.  "  And  are  you 
really  curious  about  this  wild  tradition  ?  "  asked  our 
host.  "  I  beHeve  this  is  one  of  many  legends  which, 
during  a  terrible  winter,  I  amused  myself  by  taking 
down   from   Antony's   own   lips.*'     Opening   a   drawer 


ON    THE   MOORS.  I91 

he  took  out  a  common-place  book,  and  marked  the  page. 
Finding  no  inclination  to  sleep  when  I  retired  for  the 
night,  I  heaped  more  bog-wood  on  the  fire,  and,  before 
I  slept,  read  the  following  specimen  of  the  "  wild  and 
wonderful." 


192  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

THE   LEGEND   OF   KNOCK- A-TH AMPLE. 

In  the  valley  of  Knock-a-thample,  beside  a  ruined 
church  and  holy  well,  the  shattered  walls  of  what  had 
been  once  a  human  habitation  are  still  visible.  They 
stand  at  a  bow-shot  distance  from  the  fountain,  which, 
instead  of  a  place  of  penance  for  ancient  crones  and 
solitary  devotees,  was  visited  two  centuries  since  for  a 
very  different  purpose. 

The  well,  although  patronised  by  St.  Catharine,  a 
lady  of  as  determined  celibacy  as  ever  underwent 
canonisation,  had  one  peculiar  virtue,  which,  under  her 
especial  superintendence,  it  might  not  have  been  expected 
to  possess.  Indeed,  in  every-day  complaints,  its  waters 
were  tolerably  efficacious  ;  but,  in  cases  of  connubial 
disappointments,  when  the  nuptial  bed  had  been 
unfruitful,  they  proved  an  absolute  specific  ;  and  in 
providing  an  heir  for  an  estate,  when  "  hope  deferred 
had  made  the  heart  sick,"  there  was  not  in  the  kingdom 
of  Connaught  a  blessed  well  that  could  hold  a  candle 
to  that  of  Knock-a-thample. 

Numerous  as  the  persons  were  whom  the  reputation 
of  the  fountain  collected  from  a  distance,  few  returned 
without  experiencing  relief.  Occasionally,  a  patient 
appeared,  whose  virgin  career  had  been  a  little  too 
protracted,  and  to  whom  the  rosary,  rather  than  the 
cradle,  was  adapted. — And  so  thought  St.  Catharine 
— ^though  her  water  was  unequalled,  yet  she  had  neither 
time  nor  inchnation  to  work  miracles  eternally  ;  con- 
sequently,  those   ancient   candidates   for   the   honours 


THE   LEGEND   OF   KNOCK- A-TH AMPLE.  193 

of  maternity  returned  precisely  as  they  came  :  to  expend 
holy  water  on  such  antique  customers  was  almost  a 
sinful  waste — their  presumption  was  unpardonable — 
it  was  enough  to  vex  a  saint,  and  even  put  the  blessed 
Patroness  of  Knock-a-thample  in  a  passion. 

Holy  water,  like  prophecy,  appears  to  be  of  little 
value  at  home,  and  hence  the  devotees  usually  came  from 
some  distant  province.  The  soil,  indeed,  might  then 
have  possessed  the  same  anti-Malthusian  qualities  for 
which  it  is  so  remarkable  at  the  present  day.  Certainly 
the  home  consumption  of  Knock-a-thample  was  on  a 
limited  scale — and  the  herdsman  and  his  wife,  who 
then  occupied  the  ruined  cottage  near  the  church,  owed 
their  winter  comforts  to  the  munificence  of  the  strange 
pilgrims,  who,  during  the  summer  season,  resorted  in 
numbers  to  the  well. 

It  was  late  in  October,  and  the  pilgrimages  were  over 
for  the  year — ^winter  was  at  hand — the  heath  was 
withered,  and  the  last  flower  had  fallen  from  the  bog- 
myrtle — ^the  boollies*  were  abandoned,  and  the  cattle 
driven  from  the  hills.  It  was  a  dark  evening,  and  the 
rain  which  had  been  collecting  on  the  mountains  began 
to  fall  heavily,  when  a  loud  knock  disturbed  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  cabin.  The  door  was  promptly  unbarred 
and  a  young  and  well-dressed  stranger  entered,  received 
the  customary  welcome,  with  an  invitation  to  join  the 
herdsman's  family,  who  were  then  preparing  their 
evening  meal.  The  extreme  youth  and  beauty  of  the 
traveller  did  not  escape  the  peasants'  observation,  although 
he  kept  his  cap  upon  his  head  and  declined  to  put  aside 
his  mantle. 

*  Temporary  huts  for  cowherds  and  milkmaids  for  use  in  the 
summer  and  autumn  on  mountain  pastures. 


194  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

An  hour  before  the  young  stranger  had  arrived 
another,  and  a  very  different  visitor,  had  demanded 
lodging  for  the  night.  He  belonged  also  to  another 
country,  and  for  some  years  had  trafficked  with  the 
mountain  peasantry,  and  was  known  among  them  by 
the  appellation  of  the  Red  Pedler.  He  was  a  strong 
under-sized,  and  ill-visaged  man  ;  mean  in  his  dress 
and  repulsive  in  his  appearance.  The  Pedler  directed 
a  keen  and  inquisitive  look  at  the  belated  traveller,  who 
to  escape  the  sinister  scrutiny  of  his  small  but  piercing 
eyes,  turned  to  where  the  herdsman's  wife  was  occupied 
in  preparing  the  simple  supper.  The  peasant  gazed 
with  wonder  at  her  guest ;  for  never  had  so  fair  a  face 
been  seen  within  the  herdsman's  dwelling.  While 
her  eyes  were  still  bent  upon  the  stranger,  a  fortuitous 
opening  of  the  mantle  displayed  a  sparkHng  cross  of 
exquisite  beauty,  which  hung  upon  the  youth's  bosom  • 
and  more  than  once,  as  it  glittered  in  the  uncertain 
light  of  the  wood  fire,  she  remarked  the  rich  and  sparkling 
gem. 

When  morning  came,  the  Pilgrim  took  leave  of  the 
hospitable  peasants,  and  as  he  inquired  the  road  to  the 
holy  well,  slipped  a  rose-noble  into  the  hand  of  the 
herdsman's  wife.  This  was  not  unnoticed  by  the  Red 
Pedler,  who  proffered  his  services  as  guide,  which  the 
youth  modestly,  but  firmly,  declined.  The  Pilgrim 
hastened  to  the  fountain,  performed  the  customary 
ceremonies  before  noon,  and  then  took  the  mountain 
path,  leading  through  an  opening  in  the  hills,  to  a  station,* 
which,  though  particularly  lonely,  was  usually  selected 
by  good  Catholics  for  a  last  act  of  devotion,  when  return- 
ing  from   visiting   at   the   blessed   well.     The   Pedler 

*  A  place  of  penance  frequented  by  Catholic  devotees. 


THE   LEGEND   OF   KNOCK- A-TH AMPLE.  1 95 

who,  on  various  pretences,  had  loitered  near  the  place, 
soon  afterwards  departed  in  the  same  direction. 

That  night  the  herdsman's  family  sought  repose  in 
vain — wild,  unearthly  noises  were  heard  around  the 
hovel  ;  and  shriek  and  laughter,  awfully  mingled 
together,  were  borne  upon  the  breeze  which  came 
moaning  from  the  mountains.  The  peasant  barred 
his  door,  and  grasped  his  wood-axe;  his  wife,  with 
trembling  fingers,  told  her  rosary  over  again  and  again. 
Morning  broke,  and,  harassed  by  alarms,  they  sunk 
to  sleep  at  last.  But  their  slumbers  were  rudely 
broken — a  gray-haired  monk  roused  them  hastily — 
horror  was  in  his  looks,  and,  with  difficulty,  he  staggered 
to  a  seat.  Gradually  he  collected  strength  to  tell  his 
fearful  errand — the  young  and  lovely  devotee  lay  in 
the  mountain  glen,  before  St.  Catharine's  cross,  a 
murdered  corpse. 

The  tidings  of  this  desperate  deed  flew  through  the 
country  rapidly.  The  body  was  carried  to  the  herds- 
man's cabin.  For  many  hours  life  had  been  extinct, 
and  the  distorted  countenance  of  the  hapless  youth 
bespoke  the  mortal  agony  which  had  accompanied 
the  spirit's  flight.  One  deep  wound  was  in  his  side, 
inflicted,  evidently,  by  a  triangular  weapon  ;  and  the 
brilliant  cross  and  purse  of  gold  were  gone. 

The  women  from  the  adjacent  villages  assembled  to 
pay  the  last  rites  to  the  remains  of  the  murdered 
Pilgrim.  Preparatory  to  being  laid  out,  the  clothes 
were  gently  removed  from  the  body,  when  a  cry  of 
horror  burst  from  all — the  Pilgrim  was  a  woman  I  Bound 
by  a  violet  ribbon,  a  bridal  ring  rested  beside  her  heart ; 
and,  from  unequivocal  appearances,  it  was  too  evident 
that  the  fell  assassin  had  committed  a  double  murder. 


ig6  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

The  obsequies  of  the  unhappy  lady  were  piously 
performed  ;  the  mountain  girls  decked  her  grave  with 
flowers  ;  and  old  and  young,  for  many  a  mile  around, 
offered  prayers  for  the  soul  of  the  departed.  The 
murder  was  involved  in  mystery — ^the  peasants  had  their 
own  suspicions,  but  fear  caused  them  to  be  silent. 

A  year  passed — ^the  garland  upon  the  stranger's  grave 
was  carefully  renewed — ^the  village  maidens  shed  many 
a  tear  as  they  told  her  melancholy  story  ;  and  none 
passed  the  turf  which  covered  the  murdered  beauty 
without  repeating  a  prayer  for  her  soul's  repose. 

Another  passed — and  the  third  anniversary  of  the 
Pilgrim's  death  arrived.  Late  on  that  eventful  evening 
a  tall  and  noble-looking  stranger  entered  the  herdsman's 
cottage.  His  air  was  lofty  and  commanding ;  and 
though  he  wore  a  palmer's  cloak,  the  jewelled  pommel 
of  his  rapier  glanced  from  beneath  the  garment,  and 
betrayed  his  knightly  dignity.  The  beauty  of  his  manly 
countenance  forcibly  recalled  to  the  peasants  the  memory 
of  the  ill-starred  stranger.  But  their  admiration  was 
checked  by  the  fierce,  though  melancholy  expression 
of  the  handsome  features  of  the  stranger  ;  and  if  they 
would  have  been  inclined  to  scrutinise  him  more,  one 
stern  glance  from  his  dark  and  flashing  eye  imperiously 
forbade  it.  Supper  was  prepared  in  silence,  until,  at 
the  Knight's  request,  the  herdsman  detailed  minutely 
every  circumstance  connected  with  the  lady's  murder. 

While  the  peasant's  narrative  proceeded,  the  stranger 
underwent  a  terrible  emotion,  which  his  stern  resolution 
could  not  entirely  conceal.  His  eyes  flared,  his  brows 
contracted  till  they  united  ;  and  before  the  tale  was 
ended  he  leaped  from  his  seat,  and  left  the  cabin  hastily. 

He  had  been  but  a  few  minutes  absent,  when  the  door 


THE  LEGEND  OF   KNOCK- A-TH AMPLE.  1 97 

Opened,  and  another  visitor  entered  with  scanty  cere- 
mony, and,  though  unbidden,  seated  himself  upon  the 
stool  of  honour.  His  dress  was  far  better  than  his 
mien,  and  he  assumed  an  appearance  of  superiority 
which,  even  to  the  peasants,  appeared  forced  and 
unnatural.  He  called  authoritatively  for  supper,  and 
the  tones  of  his  voice  were  quite  familiar  to  the  herds- 
man. With  excited  curiosity,  the  peasant  flung  some 
dried  flax  upon  the  fire,  and,  by  the  blaze,  recognised 
at  once  the  well-remembered  features  of  the  Red  Pedler  ! 

Before  the  peasant  could  recover  his  surprise,  the  tall 
stranger  entered  the  cottage  again,  and  approached  the 
hearth.  With  an  air  which  could  not  be  disputed,  he 
commanded  the  intruder  to  give  place.  The  waving 
of  his  hand  was  obeyed,  and,  with  muttered  threats, 
the  Pedler  retired  to  the  settle.  The  Knight  leaned 
against  the  rude  walls  of  the  chimney,  and  remained 
absorbed  in  bitter  thought,  until  the  humble  host  told 
him  that  the  meal  was  ready. 

If  a  contrast  were  necessary,  it  would  have  been  found 
in  the  conduct  of  the  strangers  at  the  board.  The 
Knight  ate  like  an  anchorite,  while  the  Pedler  indulged 
his  appetite  largely.  The  tall  stranger  tempered  the 
aqua  vitce  presented  by  the  host  copiously  with  water, 
while  the  short  one  drank  fast  and  deep,  and  appeared 
anxious  to  steep  some  pressing  sorrow  in  the  goblet. 
Gradually,  however,  his  brain  felt  the  influence  of  the 
liquor,  and,  unguarded  from  deep  and  repeated  draughts, 
he  thus  addressed  the  host : — 

"  Markest  thou  a  change  in  me,  fellow  ?  " 

"  Fellow !  "  quoth  the  peasant,  half  affronted  ; 
*'  three  years  ago  we  were  indeed  fellows  ;  for  the  Red 
Pedler  often  sought  shelter  here,  and  never  was  refused." 


igS  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

'*  The  Red  Pedler ! "  exclaimed  the  tall  stranger, 
starting  from  his  reverie,  as  if  an  adder  had  stung  him  ; 
and  fixing  his  fiery  glance  upon  the  late  visitor,  he 
examined  him  from  head  to  foot. 

"  You  will  know  me  again,  I  trow,*^  said  the  Pedler, 
with  extraordinary  assurance. 

"  /  shall,''  was  the  cold  reply. 

''  Well,"  said  the  new-comer,  *'  though  three  years 
since  I  bore  a  pack,  I'll  wager  a  rose-noble  that  I  have 
more  money  in  my  pouch  than  half  the  beggarly  knights 
from  Gal  way  to  Athlone.  There !  "  he  exclaimed, 
as  he  flung  his  cloak  open,  "  there  is  a  weighty  purse,  and 
here  a  trusty  middoge,  and  a  fig  for  knighthood  and 
nobility  !  " 

"  Slave  !  "  said  the  stranger,  in  a  voice  that  made  the 
peasants  tremble,  "  breathe  not  another  word  until 
thou  hast  satisfied  my  every  question,  or,  by  the  Mother 
of  Heaven  !  I'll  cram  my  rapier  down  thy  false  throat ;  " 
and,  starting  on  his  feet,  he  flung  his  mantle  on  the  floor. 

Though  surprised,  the  Pedler  was  not  discomfited  by 
the  dignity  and  determination  of  his  antagonist. 

"  Yes  !  "  he  sullenly  replied,  "  I  wear  no  rapier — 
but  this  middoge  has  never  failed  me  at  my  need,"  and 
drawing  from  his  bosom  a  long,  triangular  weapon, 
he  placed  it  on  the  table. — "  Sir  Knight,"  he  continued 
"  the  handle  of  my  tool  is  simple  deer-horn  ;  but, 
by  the  mass  !  I  have  a  jewel  in  my  breast  that  would  buy 
thy  tinselled  pommel  ten  times." 

''  Thou  liest,  slave  !  "  exclaimed  the  Knight. 

**  To  the  proof,  then,"  said  the  Pedler  ;  and  opening 
a  secret  pocket,  he  produced  a  splendid  cross. 

*'  Villain  !  "  said  the  tall  stranger,  under  deep  emotion, 
"  surely  thou  hast  robbed  some  hapless  traveller  !  " 


THE  LEGEND  OF  KNOCK- A-TH AMPLE.  1 99 

"  No  !  "  replied  the  Pedler,  with  a  cool  smile  ;  "  I 
was  beside  the  owner  of  this  cross  when  his  last  sigh 
was  breathed  !  " 

Like  Hghtning  the  stranger's  sword  flashed  from  its 
scabbard. 

"  Murderer  !  "  he  shouted,  in  a  voice  of  thunder, 
"  for  three  years  have  I  wandered  about  the  habitable 
earth,  and  my  sole  object  in  living  was  to  find  thy  caitiff 
self ;  a  world  would  not  purchase  thee  one  moment's 
respite  1 "  and  before  the  wretch  could  more  than 
clutch  his  weapon,  the  knight's  sword  passed  through 
his  heart — the  hilt  struck  upon  the  breast-bone,  and 
the  Red  Pedler  did  not  carry  his  Hfe  to  the  floor. 

The  stranger  for  a  moment  gazed  upon  the  breathless 
body,  and  having  with  the  dead  man's  cloak  removed 
the  blood  from  his  blade,  replaced  it  coolly  in  the  sheath. 
The  Pedler's  purse  he  flung  scornfully  to  the  peasant, 
but  the  cross  he  took  up,  looked  at  it  with  fixed  attention, 
and  the  herdsman's  wife  remarked  that  more  than  one 
tear  fell  upon  the  relic. 

Just  then  the  gray-haired  Monk  stood  before  him ; 
he  had  left  his  convent  to  offer  up  the  mass,  which  he 
did  on  every  anniversary  of  the  pilgrim's  murder. 
He  started  back  with  horror  as  he  viewed  the  bleeding 
corpse  ;  while  the  knight,  having  secured  the  cross 
within  his  bosom,  resumed  his  former  cold  and  haughty 
bearing. 

"  Fellow  !  "  he  cried  to  the  trembling  peasant, ''  hence 
with  that  carrion.  Come  hither.  Monk — ^why  gapest 
thou  thus  ?  hast  thou  never  seen  a  corpse  ere  now  ? 
Approach,  I  would  speak  with  thee  apart " — and  he 
strode  to  the  further  end  of  the  cottage,  followed  by  the 
churchman. — ''  I  am  going  to  confide  to  thee  what — " 


200  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

"  The  penitent  should  kneel,"  said  the  old  man, 
timidly. 

"  Kneel !  "  exclaimed  the  Knight,  "  and  to  thee^ 
my  fellow  mortal !  Monk,  thou  mistakest — /  am  not 
of  thy  faith^  and  I  laugh  thy  priestcraft  to  derision. 
Hearken,  but  interrupt  me  not.  The  beauteous  being 
whose  blood  was  spilled  in  these  accursed  wilds  was  the 
chosen  lady  of  my  love.  I  stole  her  from  a  convent, 
and  wedded  her  in  secret ;  for  pride  of  birth  induced 
me  to  conceal  from  the  world  my  marriage  with  a 
fugitive  nun.  She  became  pregnant,  and  that  circum- 
stance endeared  her  to  me  doubly,  and  I  swore  a  solemn 
oath  that,  if  she  brought  a  boy,  I  would  at  once  announce 
him  as  my  heir,  and  proclaim  my  marriage  to  the  world. 
The  wars  called  me  for  a  time  away.  Deluded  by  the 
artifice  of  her  confessor,  my  loved  one  was  induced  to 
come  hither  on  a  pilgrimage,  to  intercede  with  thy 
saint,  that  the  burden  she  bore  might  prove  a  son. 
Curses  light  upon  the  shaveling  that  counselled  that  fatal 
journey  !  Nay,  cross  not  thyself,  old  man,  for  I  would 
execrate  thy  master  of  Rome,  had  he  been  the  false 
adviser.  Thou  knowest  the  rest,  Monk.  Take  this 
purse.  She  was  of  thy  faith,  and  thou  must  say  masses 
for  her  soul's  health.  Yearly  shall  the  same  sum  be 
sent  to  thy  convent ;  see  that  all  that  prayers  can  do 
be  done,  or  by  my  hopes  of  grace,  thy  hive  of  drones 
shall  smoke  for  it.  Doubt  me  not. — De  Burgo  will 
keep  his  word  to  the  very  letter.  And  now,  farewell ! 
I  hurry  from  this  fatal  spot  for  ever  ;  my  train  are  not 
distant,  and  have  long  since  expected  me." 

As  he  spoke,  he  took  his  mantle  from  the  floor,  and 
wrapped  it  round  him  carelessly  ;  then,  as  he  passed  the 
spot  where  the  body  of  the  murderer  lay,  he  spurned 


THE   LEGEND   OF   KNOCK- A- TH AMPLE.  201 

it  with  his  foot,  and,  pausing  for  a  moment,  looked  at 
the  Monk— 

"  Remember  /  "  he  said  in  a  low  voice,  which  made  the 
old  man  shudder,  and,  passing  from  the  cabin,  he 
crossed  the  heath,  and  disappeared. 

But  the  terror  of  the  herdsman's  family  did  not  abate 
with  his  departure  ;  a  dead  man  lay  before  them,  and 
the  floor  was  deluged  with  his  blood.  No  human  help 
was  nigh  ;  before  daylight  assistance  could  not  be 
expected  ;  and  no  alternative  remained  but  to  wait 
patiently  for  the  morrow.  Candles  were  lighted  up, 
the  hearth  was  heaped  with  fuel,  and  a  cloth  thrown 
over  the  corpse,  which  they  lacked  the  courage  to  remove. 
To  sleep  was  impossible,  and  in  devotional  acts  they 
endeavoured  to  while  the  night  away.  Midnight  came, 
the  Monk  was  slumbering  over  his  breviary,  and  the 
matron  occupied  with  her  beads,  when  a  violent  tramp- 
ling was  heard  outside,  and  the  peasant,  fearing  the 
cattle  he  had  in  charge  were  disturbed,  rose  to  ascertain 
the  cause.  In  a  moment  he  returned.  A  herd  of  wild 
deer  surrounded  the  cabin,  and  actually  stood  in 
threatening  attitude  within  a  few  paces  of  the  door  ! 
While  he  told  this  strange  occurrence  to  the  Monk 
a  clap  of  thunder  shook  the  hovel  to  its  centre — yells, 
and  shrieks,  and  groans  succeeded — noises  so  demoniac 
as  to  almost  drive  the  listeners  to  madness,  hurtled 
through  the  air — and  infernal  lights  flashed  through  the 
crevices  of  the  door  and  window.  Till  morning  broke, 
these  unearthly  terrors  continued,  without  a  moment's 
intermission. 

Next  day  the  villagers  collected.  They  listened 
to  the  fearful  story  v/ith  dismay,  while  the  melancholy 
fate  of  the  gentle  pilgrim  was  bitterly  lamented.     To 


202  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

inter  the  Pedler's  corpse  was  the  first  care  ;  for  the 
Monk  swore  by  his  patron  saint  that  he  would  not 
pass  another  night  with  it  overground  to  be  made  a 
'*  mitred  abbot."  A  coffin  was  forthwith  prepared,  and 
with  "  maimed  rites,"  the  murderer  was  committed 
to  the  earth. 

That  masses  were  requisite  to  purify  the  scene  of 
slaughter  was  indisputable — and  with  the  peasants  who 
had  flocked  from  the  neighbouring  villages,  the  Monk 
determined  to  pass  that  night  in  prayer.  The  blood- 
stains were  removed  from  the  floor — ^the  corpse  had  been 
laid  in  consecrated  earth — and  the  office  had  commenced 
at  midnight,  when,  suddenly,  a  rushing  noise  was  heard, 
as  if  a  mountain-torrent  was  swollen  by  the  bursting  of 
a  thunder-cloud.  It  passed  the  herdsman's  cabin, 
while  blue  lights  gleamed  through  the  casement,  and 
thunder  pealed  above.  In  a  state  of  desperation,  the 
priest  ordered  the  door  to  be  unclosed,  and  by  the 
lightning's  glare,  a  herd  of  red  deer  were  seen  tearing 
up  the  Pedler's  grave  1  To  look  longer  in  that  blue 
infernal  glare  was  impossible — the  door  was  shut,  and 
the  remainder  of  the  night  passed  in  penitential  prayer. 

With  the  first  light  of  morning,  the  Monk  and 
villagers  repaired  to  the  Pedler's  grave,  and  the  scene 
it  presented  showed  that  the  horrors  of  the  preceding 
night  were  no  illusion.  The  earth  around  was  blasted 
with  lightning,  and  the  coffin  torn  from  the  tomb,  and 
shattered  in  a  thousand  splinters. — The  corpse  was 
blackening  on  the  heath,  and  the  expression  of  the 
distorted  features  was  more  like  that  of  a  demon  than  a 
man.  Not  very  distant  was  the  grave  of  his  beautiful 
victim.  The  garland  which  the  village  girls  had  placed 
there  was  fresh  and  unfaded  ;    and  late  as  the  season 


THE  LEGEND   OF   KNOCK- A-THAMPLE.  203 

was  the  blossom  was  still  upon  the  bog-myrtle,  and  the 
heath-flower  was  as  bright  and  fragrant  as  though  it 
were  the  merry  month  of  June.  *'  These  are  indeed 
the  works  of  hell  and  heaven,"  ejaculated  the  gray 
friar.  "  Let  no  hand  from  this  time  forth  pollute  itself 
by  touching  yon  accursed  corpse." 

Nightly  the  same  horrible  noises  continued.  Shriek 
and  groan  came  from  the  spot  where  the  unburied 
murderer  was  rotting,  while  by  day  the  hill-fox  and  the 
eagle  contended  who  should  possess  the  body.  Ere 
a  week  passed  the  villain's  bones  were  blanching  in  the 
winds  of  heaven,  for  no  human  hand  attempted  to 
cover  them  again. 

From  that  time  the  place  was  deserted.  The  desperate 
noises,  and  the  frequent  appearance  of  the  Pedler's 
tortured  spirit,  obliged  the  herdsman  to  abandon  his 
dwelling,  and  reside  in  an  adjacent  village.  The  night 
of  the  day  upon  which  he  had  removed  his  family  and 
effects,  a  flash  of  lightning  fell  upon  the  cabin,  and 
consumed  the  roof  ;  and  next  morning  nothing  remained 
but  black  and  rifted  walls.  Since  that  time  the  well 
is  only  used  for  penance.  The  peasant  approaches 
not  the  desecrated  burying-place  if  he  can  avoid  it. 
The  cattle  are  never  known  to  shelter  underneath  the 
ruined  walls — and  the  curse  of  God  and  man  have  fallen 
on  Knock' a-thample. 


204  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 


CHAPTER  XXVI, 

The  Colonel  has  girded  up  his  loins  for  the  mountains, 
and,  with  the  assistance  of  Mogh-a-dioul,  a  pony  of 
unhappy  name,  but  good  and  enduring  qualities,  he 
purposes  to  favour  us  with  his  company  during  our 
sojourn  at  the  cabin  in  the  hills.  While  we  traverse 
the  moors,  the  commander  will  infest  the  river  ;  or, 
if  the  day  be  questionable,  like  honest  Sancho,  he  will 
patiently  remain  beside  the  flesh-pots.  To  him  the 
"  meminisse  juvabit "  will  apply.  Thirty  years  ago, 
with  his  lamented  contemporary,  our  host's  father, 
the  soldier,  who  was  then  a  keen  and  accomplished 
sportsman,  spent  many  a  happy  hour  upon  the  heath. 
To  his  memory  every  dell  and  hillock  is  still  green  ; 
and  hence  our  evening  details  will  recall  to  him  those 
happier  recollections  of  youthful  pastime,  which,  when 
"  life  was  new,"  he  had  once  delighted  to  indulge  in. 

The  Colonel  fishes  well  I  and  I,  at  least  my  vanity 
believes  it,  have  improved  marvellously — I  really  can 
throw  a  line,  and  this  the  priest  avers  upon  the  word 
of  a  churchman.  I  begin  also  to  have  what  the  Scotch 
call  a  gloamin'  of  what  forms  the  composition  of  a  killing 
fly.  But  my  pride  has  sadly  abated.  Last  night,  during 
a  stormy  controversy,  touching  the  comparative  merits 
of  Pull-garrow  and  Pull-buoy,  upon  which  the  host 
and  commander  held  opinions  opposite  as  the  antipodes, 
to  prove  that  I  belonged  to  a  "  thinking  people,"  I 
raised  my  voice  in  favour  of  the  yellow  pool.  Our  host, 
in  dudgeon,  having  premised  that  one  of  us  was  blind, 
and  the  other  a  botch,  declared  by  the  shade  of  Walton, 


THE   COLONEL  S   WAGER.  305 

that  on  any  given  day  he  would  kill  more  than  we  both 
could  produce  together.  This,  as  every  Irish  argument 
ends  in  a  duel  or  bet,  has  terminated,  fortunately ^  in  the 
latter  :  and  though  the  wager  be  not  so  deep  as  Hamlet's 
"  Barbary  horses  "  to  "  French  rapiers,  poniards,  and 
their  assigns,"  yet  the  respective  parties  appear  deeply 
interested  in  the  result.  To-morrow  will  decide  the 
question,  and  settle  the  doubtful  point  of  scientific 
superiority  between  the  rival  artists. 

It  strikes  me  forcibly,  that  among  Irish  anglers  the 
doctrine  of  meum  et  tuum  is  but  indifferently  understood. 
My  kinsman  and  the  commander  are  constantly  lamenting 
a  loss  of  property,  and  certainly  they  do  not  indulge  in 
these  jeremiads  without  good  reason.  I  never  observe 
the  Colonel's  huge  book  forgotten  for  a  few  minutes, 
but  it  is  unmercifully  plundered  by  the  host — and  if 
the  key  of  the  latter 's  fly-drawer  can  be  procured,  the 
commander  unlocks  it  without  ceremony,  and  having 
explored  its  arcana,  adopts  liberally  such  articles  as  find 
favour  in  his  sight.  The  housemaid  has  been  suborned 
to  abstract  the  Colonel's  casting-lines  from  his  dor- 
mitory ;  and,  as  the  host  generally  hides  a  favourite 
fly  or  two  in  the  lining  of  his  hat,  I  never  pass  the  hall 
without  finding  the  commander  fumbling  about  the  hat- 
stand.  It  was  clearly  stipulated  and  understood  that 
the  flies  with  which  to-morrow's  match  should  be 
decided  were  to  be  bona  fide  the  handy-work  of  the 
respective  parties  ;  yet  the  Colonel  privately  informs 
me  that  he  has  despatched  a  trusty  envoy  to  the  priest, 
to  implore  that  gifted  churchman  to  furnish  him,  sub 
sigillo,  with  a  cast  or  two  for  the  occasion  ;  and  the  said 
envoy  has  covenanted  to  be  at  the  commander's  window 
with  an  answer,  '*  before  a  mother's  soul  is  stirring." 


206  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

The  thunder-storm  produced  a  considerable  fresh 
in  the  river,  as  the  rain  fell  abundantly  in  the  hills.  The 
stream,  however,  had  sufficient  time  to  clear  after  the 
flood,  and  we  found  it  in  beautiful  order.  The  wind 
is  steady  at  north-west ;  and  as  the  drafting  has  long 
since  been  discontinued,  and  the  wears  lowered  to  permit 
the  fish  to  enter  from  the  sea  without  obstruction, 
old  Antony  declares  that,  as  a  fishing- day,  nothing  could 
be  more  favourable.  We  tossed  for  choice,  and  lost 
it.  My  kinsman  commences  his  work  three  miles 
up,  at  his  favourite  Pull-garrow,  while  we  fish  from  the 
mouth  of  the  river.  At  five  we  meet  at  the  cabin,  and 
the  party  then  producing  the  greater  weight  of  fish 
is  conqueror.  These  preliminaries  being  adjusted,  our 
opponent  went  off  like  an  arab,  to  join  his  aide-de-camp, 
Mr.  Hennessey,  who  has  all  in  readiness  for  his  com- 
mencement, and,  I  suspect,  a  salmon  or  two  already 
in  the  pannier. 

The  opening  of  our  campaign  is  everything  but  satis- 
factory— Mogh-a-dioul  seems  possessed  with  the 
demon  of  obstinacy  ;  any  advance  towards  the  river 
is  his  aversion,  and,  as  Pattigo  expresses  it,  ''  the  beast 
will  neither  wear  or  stay''  The  commander's  seat 
has  been  more  than  once  perilled  by  his  gambadoes  ; 
and,  as  we  are  informed  that  he  is  caparisoned  with  a 
bit,  which  is  his  abomination,  there  is  but  little  chance 
of  amendment  in  Mogh-a-dioul.  This  appears  very 
like  a  plot  against  the  Colonel's  person  ;  and  I  fear  that 
the  midnight  embassy  to  the  priest  will  be  more  than 
countervailed  by  the  manoeuvres  of  our  abler  antagonist. 

Both  adepts  made  excellent  professions  of  good 
faith  at  starting  ;  but,  as  my  kinsman  left  us,  there  was  a 
"  lurking  devil  in  his  eye,"  that  augurs  us  no  good 


THE  COLONEL'S  WAGER.  207 

fortune.  The  commander,  too,  talked  in  good,  set  terms 
of  *'  honourable  conduct  "  ;  but  precept  and  practice, 
I  lament  to  say,  are  somewhat  irreconcilable. 

"  Andy,^'  he  said,  in  his  most  insinuating  manner,  to 
our  attendant  ;  '*  Andy  Bawn^  you  were  always  an 
obliging  boy,  and  very  handy  with  the  gaff.  Just  keep 
your  eye  about  the  banks  as  we  go  along  ;  and  if  you  can 
snaffle  a  salmon  or  two,  why,  the  pannier  will  tell  no 
tales,  and  weigh  all  the  better." 

To  me  there  never  was  a  more  delightful  expedition  ; 
but  my  companion  was  cold  to  all  the  romance  of 
nature,  and  engrossed  with  one  consideration — to  win 
his  wager.  While  I  was  enraptured  with  the  splendid 
scenery  that  each  new  point  presented,  the  Colonel  was 
cursing  his  flies,  and  pouring  anathemas  on  the  priest. 
"  How  beautiful !"  I  exclaimed,  as  the  sunshine  fell 
upon  a  mountain  valley,  through  which  a  little  rivulet 
was  winding,  and  whose  waters,  in  the  glare  of  light, 
danced    downwards    like    a   streak    of    molten    silver. 

''  How     d provoking,"    responded    my    brother 

fisherman,  "  that  the  only  decent  fly  in  that  accursed 
priest's  collection  should  be  tied  upon  a  hook  with  no 
more  point  upon  it  than  a  hobnail !  Ah,  Father  Andrew  ! 
was  this  treatment  for  an  old  acquaintance — a  man  who 
would  have  trusted  his  life  to  you,  and  drink  with  you 
in  the  dark  ?  Here,  Andy  Bawn^  give  me  my  book, 
and  fling  this  most  villainous  assemblage  of  faded  wool 
and  ragged  feathers  into  the  next  bog-hole.  And  now, 
my  friend  and  fellow-labourer,  leave  the  mountains 
alone,  and  think  more  of  filling  the  fishing-baskets, 
or  we  are  beaten  men  !  " 

We  followed  the  course  of  the  river  for  a  distance  of 
ten  miles,  stopping  at  the  pools  as  we  went  along,  but 


208  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

leaving  the  streams  and  shallows  without  a  trial.  As 
we  proceeded  up  the  hills  the  scenery  became  wilder 
and  more  interesting  ;  here  and  there  the  moors  were 
sprinkled  with  green  hillocks,  and  the  range  of  moun- 
tains behind  was  splendidly  picturesque.  The  pools 
alone  had  beauty  in  my  companion's  eyes,  and  some  of 
them  were  indeed  magnificent.  One  was  particularly 
romantic — ^it  was  a  deep  natural  basin,  formed  by  a 
sudden  turning  of  the  river,  where  the  banks  on  either 
side  were  nearly  perpendicular,  and  rose  to  a  con- 
siderable height,  and,  to  the  water's  edge,  were  thickly 
covered  with  hollies  and  hardy  shrubs.  At  the  upper 
end  of  the  pool,  a  rock  of  immense  magnitude  reared 
its  naked  front,  and  shut  out  every  other  object.  Round 
its  base,  the  river  forced  its  waters  through  a  narrow 
channel,  and  at  the  other  extremity,  falling  over  a  ledge 
of  rocks,  turned  sharply  round  a  hillock,  and  was  lost 
sight  of.  There  were  but  two  points  from  which  the 
angler  could  command  the  pool,  for  elsewhere  the 
banks  and  underwood  prevented  his  approach  :  one  was 
a  sandbank  about  the  centre,  to  which,  by  a  narrow 
goat-path,  the  fisher  could  descend  ;  the  other,  a  small 
space  immediately  beneath  the  rock  of  green  and  velvet- 
looking  herbage.  At  this  point  the  shepherds  had 
erected  a  hut  for  occasional  shelter,  and  never  was  a 
sweeter  spot  selected  wherein  to  dream  away  a  summer 
night.  No  human  dwelling  was  in  sight — deep  and 
undisturbed  solitude  breathed  around — ^the  blue  and 
lucid  pool  before  the  cabin  danced  in  the  moonlight, 
or  glittered  in  the  first  rays  of  morning — while  the 
rushing  waters  of  the  river  produced  such  melancholy 
and  tranquillizing  sounds,  as  would  lull  to  rest  any 
bosom  untortured  by  mortal  passions. 


THE   COLONEL  S   WAGER.  209 

"  Julius  has  been  here  before  us,  and  has  left  some 
mementoes  of  his  visit,"  said  the  Colonel,  pointing  to 
foot-marks  in  the  sand,  and  blood  and  fish-scales  upon  the 
pebbles  ;  ''  I  fear  our  bet  is  in  jeopardy  ;  verily,  our 
worthy  relative  will  never  shame  the  proverb,  that 
*  De'il's  bairns  have  de'il's  luck  !  '  But  what  can  the 
matter  be  among  the  salmon  ?  In  faith,  the  pool  appears 
bewitched." 

As  he  spoke  I  remarked  the  occurrence  which  the 
commander  noticed.  The  fish,  which  upon  our  first 
arrival  had  risen  merrily  at  the  natural  flies,  ceased  on 
a  sudden  altogether — ^now  they  rushed  confusedly 
through  the  water  or  threw  themselves  for  yards 
along  the  surface.  It  was  not  the  sullen  plunge 
at  an  insect,  or  the  vertical  spring,  when  sport, 
not  food,  brings  the  salmon  over  water ;  but  it 
was  evident  there  was  some  hidden  cause  of  alarm,  and 
we  were  not  long  left  in  doubt.  Near  the  neck  of  the 
pool  an  otter  pf  the  largest  size  showed  himself  for  a 
moment,  then  darting  under  water,  the  same  commotion 
ensued  again.  Before  a  minute  elapsed,  Andy  Bawn 
pointed  silently  to  a  shoal  beneath  an  overhanging  bush, 
and  there  was  the  spoiler,  apparently  resting  himself 
after  his  successful  exertions,  and  holding  a  four-pound 
white  trout  in  his  mouth.  Either  he  noticed  us,  or  had 
some  more  favourite  haunt  to  feed  in,  for  he  glided 
into  the  deep  water,  and  we  saw  no  more  of  him. 

Although  we  found  out  that  the  otter  and  ourselves 
could  not  manage  to  fish  in  company,  we  ascertained 
that  the  pool  was  abundantly  stocked  with  salmon  ; 
during  the  period  of  the  greatest  alarm,  at  least  a  dozen 
fish  were  breaking  the  surface  at  the  same  time. 

We  reached  the  cabin  after  a  day  of  excellent  sport ; 

f 


210  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

but  everything  on  earth  has  its  alloy,  and  two  circum- 
stances appear  to  cloud  the  sunshine  of  the  commander's 
bosom.  One  is  the  inexplicable  conduct  of  the  priest ; 
the  other,  the  repeated  misconduct  of  Mogh-a-dioul. 
We  have,  to  be  sure,  four  fine  salmon,  and  a  score  of  good- 
sized  sea-trout ;  but  the  Colonel  swears  that  he  lost 
his  best  fishing  until  he  discarded  the  priest's  flies  ; 
and  it  is  probable,  if  their  defects  had  been  apparent 
at  an  earlier  period,  our  baskets  would  have  been  con- 
siderably benefited  by  the  discovery. 

As  we  ascended  the  bank  before  the  cabin  door,  our 

rival  met  us.     He  had  left  ofl[  fishing  for  some  time, 

and   had   changed   his   dress   entirely — "  Come,   brush 

up,   or  dinner  will  be  spoiled.     Colonel,   I  trust  that 

you  and  Mogh-a-dioul  are  on  pleasing  terms  with  each 

other.     You  stole  my  bridle,  but,  no  apologies — I  can 

ride   Crughadore   with   a   hay  band.      Come, — ^to     scale 

at  once,  or  dinner  is  not  worth  a  gray  groat.     Hennessey, 

the     steel-yard — produce — despatch — one^     two,      three, 

four.    You  killed  one  apiece,  I  presume,  and  Andy  gaifed 

the  other  two ;    nay,  commander  of  the  faithful,  look 

not  so  ferocious.     What,  no  more  !    and  is  this  paltry 

creel  of  fish  the  produce  of  the  day  ?     Colonel,  I  blush 

for  you.     Barely  forty  pounds.     Turn  that  clave*  over, 

and   put  these  gentlemen   of  the  angle  out  of  pain." 

As  he  spoke,  the  attendant  emptied  the  contents  of  the 

pannier,  and  nine  well-sized  salmon,  with  a  multitude  - 

of  sea-trout,  rolled  out  upon  the  sward. 

"  By  my  faith  !  "  exclaimed  the  commander,  "  these 
fish  were  never  fairly  killed  ;  you  drafted  a  hole  or  two, 
as  surely  as  I  am  a  sinner." 

''  The  latter  part  of  your  remark  I  admit,"  said  my 

*  A  horsebasket. 


THE  colonel's   WAGER.  211 

kinsman,  **  the  former  I  deny.  By  this  virgin  hand  ! 
every  fish  before  you  was  killed  by  hook  and  line. 
Come,  are  you  for  another  bet  ?  For  five  pounds,  and 
within  five  minutes^  I'll  kill  another  salmon,  and  make 
the  number  ten  !  " 

"  Done  !  "  we  exclaimed  together. 

"  Hennessey,  the  rod  ;  wet  the  flies  below  the  pool, 
and  in  twenty  seconds,  yon  cloud  will  be  over  the  sun." 

Before  the  cabin  there  was  a  tolerable  hole,  deep, 
but  narrow.  Where  the  stream  runs  in,  the  ripple  is 
considerable,  and  between  it  and  the  bank  the  deepest 
water  lies.  If  there  be  a  salmon  in  the  pool,  there  is  the 
spot  to  find  him.  My  cousin  sent  the  casting-line  in 
such  masterly  style  into  the  opposite  eddy  as  pro- 
claimed him  at  once  an  adept,  and  the  second  cast  a 
salmon  rose  and  took  him. 

He  was  but  a  light  fish,  and  in  less  than  three  minutes 
was  bounding  upon  the  grass  beside  his  dead  com- 
panions. My  kinsman  handed  the  rod  to  the  attendant. 
— "  Gentlemen,"  he  said  in  mock  heroics,  "  in  your 
memories  be  all  my  bets  remembered  !  And  now  to 
dinner,  with  what  appetite  you  may." 

"  Well,"  said  the  commander,  "  this  heats  Bannagher.^ 
I  would  have  given  my  corporal  oath  the  knave  had 
swept  the  river.  His  flies  are  absolute  perfection ! 
There's  villainy  somewhere ;  but  come  along.  The 
dinner  must  not  cool,  and  the  wine  shall  pay  for  it !  " 

"  Julius,"  said  the  commander,  as  he  extracted  the 
third  cork,  "  thy  star  predominated  ;  a  villainous 
combination  of  circumstances,  with  infernal  flies,  and 
an  intractable  pony,  destroyed  me.  Andy  Bawn  (we 
are  beaten,  and  the  truth  may  be  told)  for  the  first  time 

*  An  Irish  phrase  synonymous  with"  this  exceeds  everything." 


212  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

in  his  life  was  taken  with  a  fit  of  conscience,  and  actually 
refused  to  gaff  a  salmon.  The  very  otters  were  com- 
bined against  us,  and  disturbed  the  best  pool  upon  the 
river  but  Pull-buoy.     I  had  no  time  to  tie  fresh  flies." 

"  Or  even  send  to  Goolamere  to  borrow,''  said  my 
kinsman,  drily. 

"Ah,  hem,"  and  the  Colonel  appeared  a  little  bothered 
— "  I  want  no  man's  flies  ;  my  own,  I  find,  will  generally 
answer." 

"  And  yet,"  said  the  host,  "  the  priest,  when  he 
pleases,  can  tie  a  killing  one.'' 

"  Why — ye — es,  he  does — a  leetle  coarse — but  let  me 
see  your  casting-lines  ;  I  fear,  my  friend,  that  we  had 
not  the  right  colours  up." 

"  I  fear  so,  too,"  said  our  host,  with  much  expression. 

"By  my  conscience  !  "  exclaimed  the  Colonel,  as  he 
scrutinised  the  casting-lines  that  were  wound  about  my 
kinsman's  hat,  "  I  would  have  taken  my  oath  on  a 
bag-full  of  books  that  this  mallard's  wing  was  tied  by 
Father  Andrew." 

"  And  by  my  conscience,"  returned  the  host,  "  you 
would  not  have  been  very  far  astray." 

"  And  was  this  fair,  Julius — ^to  fish  with  any  but 
your  own  ?  " 

"  Why,  really,  they  looked  so  beautiful,  that  for  the 
life  of  me  I  could  not  but  put  them  up.  But,  my  friend, 
the  next  time  you  despatch  a  midnight  messenger, 
select  a  trustier  one  than  Currakeen* — and  take  a  better 
opportunity  to  praise  young  Alice's  *  black  eyes  '  than 
when  issuing  your  secret  instructions.  Nay,  I  will 
respect  those  blushes.  The  fact  is,  Currakeen  was  at 
your  window  before  *  a  mother's  soul  was  stirring  '—^ 
*  A  bye-name  given  to  one  of  tUe  endless  tribe  of  Malley, 


THE  colonel's   WAGEft.  21 3 

but,  my  dear  Colonel,  he  did  me  the  favour  to  first  call 
at  mine.  I  merely  took  the  liberty  of  exchanging  a 
few  flies — you  fished  with  some  old  acquaintances, 
while  I  tried  experiments  with  Father  Andrew's.  Come, 
the  bets  are  off — we  both  violated  treaties,  and  thus 
I  renounce  my  victory,  though  my  opinion  of  Pull- 
garrow  is  unalterable." 

"  Julius,"  said  the  commander,  solemnly,  "  you'll 
be  on  the  highway  next.  Breaking  a  letter  open,  I  think, 
is  an  excellent  preparative  for  stopping  his  Majesty's 
mail." 

"  And  in  that  case,  I  trust  that  you  will  be  an  accom- 
plice. If  one  must  swing,  good  society  is  everything. 
Your  demeanour  at  '  the  fatal  tree,'  I  am  persuaded, 
would  be  exemplary." 


214  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 


The  otter-killer  arrived  here  last  evening,  after  having, 
according  to  his  own  account,  worked  wonders  upon  a 
damaged  head.  From  the  specimens  I  have  seen 
during  my  short  sojourn  at  Ballycroy,  I  have  come  to  a 
conclusion  that  the  skulls  of  the  natives  are  fabricated 
of  different  materials  to  those  of  all  the  world  besides. 
Their  endurance  is  miraculous — a  fellow  who  was 
reported  as  *'  beaten  to  a  jelly,  and  anointed  by  the  priest," 
last  week,  actually  cleared  a  fair  with  an  unpronounceable 
name  yesterday,  after  qualifying  for  admission  to  the 
next  infirmary  some  half-score  of  his  Majesty's  liege 
subjects.  This  is  an  every-day  exploit ;  and  of  all  the 
corners  of  the  earth  that  I  have  visited,  I  would  name 
this  as  the  place  wherein  to  establish  a  resident  cranio- 
logist. 

Like  all  wild  people,  these  aborigines  are  absurdly 
credulous,  and  open  to  the  grossest  superstitions. 
Charms,  as  they  believe,  are  employed  with  decided 
success,  in  every  disease  you  name.  The  existence  of 
ghosts  and  fairies  is  universally  acknowledged ;  and 
animals  of  extraordinary  formation,  and  strange  virtues, 
are  supposed  to  inhabit  lakes  and  rivers.  Among  these, 
the  sea-horse  and  master-otter^  are  pre-eminent.  By 
a  singular  anomaly,  the  first  is  said  to  be  found  in  certain 
inland  loughs,  and  his  appearance  is  imagined  to  be 
fatal  to  the  unfortunate  person  who  encounters  him. 
The  latter,   however,  should   be  an  object  of  anxious 

*  There  is   a  strange   coincidence   between   the  master -otter  of 
the  Irish  and  the  Jungunus  crocodile  of  the  Japanese. 


GHOSTS    AND  FAIRIES.  21 5 

research,  for  he  is  endued  with  amazing  virtues.  Where 
a  portion  of  his  skin  is,  the  house  cannot  be  burned, 
or  the  ship  cast  away,  and  steel  or  bullet  will  not  harm 
the  man  who  possesses  an  inch  of  this  precious  material. 
Antony,  indeed,  confesses  that,  in  the  course  of  his 
otter-hunting,  he  has  never  been  fortunate  enough  to 
meet  this  invaluable  brute  ;  but  he  tells  a  confused 
story  of  one  having  been  killed  "  far  down  in  the 
north "  by  three  brothers  called  Montgomery,  who, 
from  poverty,  became  immensely  rich,  and  whose 
descendants  are  opulent  to  this  very  day.  He  says, 
the  master-otter  was  seen  twice  in  this  neighbourhood. 
At  Dhu-hill,  he  appeared  about  sixty  years  ago,  attended 
by  about  one  hundred  common-sized  animals,  who 
waited  upon  "  the  master  "  like  loyal  and  dutiful  beasts. 
He  was  also  observed  by  one  of  the  O'Donnel  family, 
whilst  passing  through  Clew  Bay  in  a  sailing-boat. 
Requiring  a  supply  of  fresh  water,  O'Donnel  landed 
on  an  island  for  the  purpose  of  filling  his  keg,  but  found 
the  spring  already  occupied  by  a  strange  and  nondescript 
animal.  After  his  first  surprise  had  subsided,  he 
returned  to  the  boat,  and  procured  a  gun.  This  he  loaded 
carefully  with  five  fingers  and  a  half* — ^for  Antony  is 
minute  in  all  his  narratives — ^and  then,  and  within  a 
dozen  yards,  levelled  at  the  master.  Thrice  he  drew 
the  trigger,  and  thrice  the  gun  missed  fire.  The  otter 
wisely  determined  not  to  give  him  a  fourth  chance, 
and  left  the  well  for  the  ocean.  Mortified  at  his  failure, 
O'Donnel  tried  his  gun  at  a  passing  gull  ;  it  exploded 
without  trouble,  and  finished  the  unfortunate  bird — 
thus  proving,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  the  gun  was  faultless, 

*  The  lower  class  of  Irish  describe  the  charge  of  a  gun  not  by- 
quantity  of  powder  and  shot,  but  by  long  measure. 


21 6  WILD  SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

and  the  preservative  qualities  of  the  animal  were  alone  to 
blame — "  And,  indeed,"  quoth  Antony,  "  he  might 
have  snapped  at  the  master  to  eternity  ;  for,  if  an  inch 
of  skin  can  save  house,  ship,  and  man,  what  a  deal  of 
virtue  there  must  be  in  a  whole  hide  !  " 

The  legendary  tales  touching  the  appearance  of 
ghosts,  and  the  exploits  of  fairies,  are  endless.  The 
agency  of  the  former  appears  directed  principally  to 
men,  while  the  latter  exercise  their  powers  upon  children 
and  cattle.  Indeed,  the  sinister  influence  of  the  ''  faery 
race  "  appears  to  fall  almost  exclusively  upon  the  brute 
creation  in  Ballycroy  ;  and  through  it  many  an  unhappy 
cow  comes  to  an  untimely  end,  and  if  she  escape  loss 
of  life,  she  suffers  what  is  nearly  as  bad,  loss  of  butter. 
For  the  first  calamity,  Antony  acknowledges  there  is 
no  cure  ;  but  for  the  second^  there  is  "  balm  in  Gilead," 
and  certain  holy  loughs  afford  an  antidote  to  this  elfin 
visitation. 

The  cow,  I  believe,  should  be  present  at  the  operation, 
which  is  performed  by  committing  her  tether  and  some 
butter  to  the  waves,  with  (of  course)  a  due  proportion 
of  prayers  for  her  recovery.  Whether  the  animal  be 
benefited  or  not,  there  be  others  who  reap  sure  and  solid 
advantages.  At  the  proper  period,  some  saint's  day, 
no  doubt,  when  Lough  Keirawn  is  frequented  by  the 
proprietors  of  bewitched  cattle,  many  of  the  poor  of  the 
neighbourhood  congregate  on  the  lee  side  of  the  lake, 
and  a  lively  and  profitable  fishing  of  fresh  butter 
continues,  until  the  oblations  to  the  saint  or  saintess 
of  the  lake,  on  the  part  of  the  afflicted  cows,  have 
ended. 

While  staying  at  a  gentleman's  house  I  heard,  when 
passing  the  porter's  lodge,  that  the  gate-keeper's  cow 


GHOSTS    AND  FAIRIES.  21 7 

was  ill.  As  she  was  a  fine  animal,  the  loss  would  have 
been  a  serious  one  to  the  family,  and  hence  I  became 
interested  in  her  recovery.  For  several  days,  however, 
the  report  to  my  inquiry  was  most  unfavourable,  and 
at  last  the  case  was  considered  hopeless. 

The  following  morning,  as  I  rode  past,  I  found  the 
family  in  deep  distress.  The  cow,  they  said,  could 
not  live  many  hours  ;  and  the  gate-keeper  had  gone 
off  to  fetch  "  the  charmer,"  who  lived  some  ten  miles 
distant.  I  really  sympathised  with  the  good  woman. 
The  loss  of  eight  or  nine  guineas  to  one  in  humble  life 
is  a  serious  calamity  ;  and  from  the  appearance  of  the 
cow  I  concluded,  though  not  particularly  skilful,  that 
the  animal  would  not  survive. 

That  evening  I  strolled  out  after  dinner.  It  was  sweet 
moonlight,  and  I  bent  my  steps  to  the  gate-house  to 
inquire  if  the  cow  still  lived. 

The  family  was  in  great  tribulation.  "  The  charmer 
had  arrived— had  seen  the  cow — ^had  prepared  herbs 
and  nostrums,  and  was  performing  some  solitary  cere- 
mony at  an  adjacent  spring- well,  from  which  he  had 
excluded  every  member  of  the  family  in  assisting." 
I  was  most  curious  to  observe  the  incantation,  but  was 
dissuaded  by  the  gate-keeper,  who  implored  me  "to 
give  the  conjuror  fair  play." 

In  five  minutes  the  charmer  joined  us — he  said  the 
case  was  a  bad  one,  but  that  he  thought  he  could 
bring  round  the  cow.  He  then  administered  the 
"  unhallowed  potion,"  and  I  left  the  lodge,  expecting 
to  hear  next  morning  that  the  animal  was  defunct. 

Next  day  "  the  bulletin  was  favourable  "  ;  and  "  the 
charmer  "  was  in  the  act  of  receiving  his  reward — I 
looked  at  him  ;    he  was  as  squalid  and  heart-broken  a 


21 8  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

wretch  in  appearance  as  ever  trod  the  earth.  The  cow 
still  seemed  weak,  but  "  the  charmer  "  spoke  confi- 
dently of  her  recovery.  When  he  left  the  lodge  and 
turned  his  steps  homewards,  I  pulled  up  my  horse  and 
waited  for  him.  He  would  rather  have  avoided  an 
interview,  but  could  not.  ''  Well,  fellow,  you  have 
humbugged  that  poor  family,  and  persuaded  them  that 
the  cow  will  recover  ?  " — "  I  have  told  them  truth," 
said  the  charmer,  coldly. — "  And  will  your  prophecy 
prove  true  ?  "  I  asked,  in  a  tone  of  scornful  incredulity. 
"  It  will,"  said  he  ;  "  but,  God  help  me  I  this  night  I'll 
pay  dearly  for  it !  "  I  looked  at  him — his  face  was 
agonised  and  terror-stricken  ;  he  crossed  the  fence  and 
disappeared. 

When  I  passed  the  gate-house  on  my  return,  the  cow 
was  evidently  convalescent ;  and  in  a  few  days  she  was 
perfectly  well. 

I  leave  the  solution  of  the  mystery  to  the  learned  ; 
for  in  such  matters,  as  they  say  in  Connaught — Neil  an 
skeil  a  gau  maun. 

Among  the  human  diseases  ascribed  to  supernatural 
causes,  the  faragurta  is  the  principal.  Conjectures 
touching  its  origin  are  numerous  and  contradictory, 
and  it  is  attributed  to  everything  but  the  true  cause. 
The  faragurta  comes  on  suddenly — ^a  general  weakness 
precedes  the  attack — ^the  sufferer's  strength  is  pros- 
trated in  an  instant — ^he  sinks  down,  and,  if  assistance 
be  not  at  hand,  perishes.  Many  persons  are  lost  through 
this  disease  while  crossing  the  extensive  wilds  around 
us,  where  human  relief  is  generally  unattainable. 

The  causes,  to  which,  in  popular  belief,  it  is  ascribed 
are  many.  Some  assert  that  it  is  brought  on  by  treading 
upon  a  poisonous  plant ;  others,  that  it  is  occasioned  by 


GHOSTS   AND  FAIRIES.  219 

fairy  influence  ;  while  more  affirm  that  it  is  produced 
by  passing  over  the  place  where  a  corpse  has  been  laid 
down.  But  this  mystified  disorder  is,  after  all,  nothing 
but  exhaustion  consequent  upon  hunger  and  fatigue. 
The  lower  classes  are  particularly  obnoxious  to  its 
attack.  They  eat  but  seldom,  and  at  irregular  seasons  ; 
and  commonly  labour  for  many  hours  before  they 
break  their  fast.  Want  of  food  produces  faintness  and 
exhaustion  ;  and  a  supernatural  cause  is  sought  for  a 
simple  malady,  which  is  only  the  natural  consequence 
of  dyspepsia  and  an  empty  stomach. 

One  would  imagine  that  the  specific  for  faragurta 
would  at  once  point  out  its  origin.  Bread,  or  even  a 
few  grains  of  corn,  are  beheved  to  cure  it  instantly  ; 
but  any  kind  of  food  is  equally  efficacious.  ''  I  have 
seen,"  said  my  kinsman,  "  many  persons  attacked  with 
faragurta,  and  have  myself  been  patient  and  physician. 
Some  years  ago,  a  finCj  active  boy,  called  Emineein* 
commonly  attended  me  to  the  moors,  and  one  day  he 
was  suddenly  taken  ill,  in  the  very  wildest  part  of  the 
hills.  He  lost  all  power  of  Hmb,  and  lay  down  upon  the 
heath  unable  to  proceed  a  step.  We  had  no  grain  of 
any  kind  to  administer,  and  in  this  emergency  tried 
that  universal  panacea — a  glass  of  whisky.  After  he  had 
swallowed  the  cordial,  the  boy  rather  got  worse  than 
better,  and  we  were  obUged  to  carry  him  to  a  still-house, 
at  nearly  two  miles  distance.  On  our  arrival,  fortunately 
for  Emineein,  we  found  the  operators  collected  round 
a  skibbf  of  potatoes.  After  eating  one  or  two,  the 
patient  was  able  to  join  the  party,  and  next  morning 
proceeded  stoutly  home. 

''  In  my  own  case,  the  predisposing  cause  was  no 

*  Synonymous  to  Neddy.  t  ^  basket. 


220  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

enigma.  I  had  been  one  of  a  knot  of  fox-hunters  who, 
on  the  preceding  night,  had  indulged  in  a  desperate 
jollification.  Finding  a  disinclination  for  breakfast, 
I  repaired,  contrary  to  my  general  habit,  without  it  to 
the  mountains.  I  had  exercised  severely  for  several 
hours,  when  at  once  I  became  helpless  as  an  infant, 
and  sank  upon  a  bank  incapable  of  motion.  My  pony 
and  some  food  were  speedily  obtained,  and  the  faragurta 
banished.  But,  assuredly,  if  unassisted,  I  must  have 
lain  upon  the  heath,  for  I  could  not  make  the  slightest 
exertion  to  get  forward." 

It  is  a  lamentable  fact  that  the  obligation  of  legal 
oath  is  here  of  trifling  importance.  Cases  of  determined 
perjury  occur  every  day  ;  and  an  adjuration  upon  the 
evangelists  is  considered  as  being  far  inferior  in  solemnity 
to  one  upon  the  priest's  vestment.  Whether  there 
be  any  regular  formula  to  be  observed  in  this  compara- 
tive swearing,  I  know  not ;  I  say  comparative y  for  in 
Ballycroy,  oaths,  like  adjectives,  have  three  degrees  of 
value.  First,  that  upon  the  evangelists  ;  the  second, 
upon  the  vestment ;  and  the  last  upon  the  skull. 
Nothing  is  more  common  than  to  hear  a  fellow,  who  had 
just  laid  down  the  book,  offer  to  fortify  his  doubtful 
evidence,  by  taking  number  two.  But  even  the  vestment 
is  not  always  conclusive  ;  and  the  following  anecdote 
will  best  describe  the  value  of  comparative  swearing  : — 

Andy  Bawn  has  felt  the  arrow  of  "  the  villain,"  and 
believed,  "  fond  wretch  !  "  that  he  was  beloved  again. 
The  night  of  the  portmanteau  affair  will  ever  be 
chronicled  upon  his  memory  ;  for  while  he  was  under 
fear  and  terror  at  the  bridge  of  Bally veeney,  she,  the  lady 
of  his  love,  was  at  a  prinkum*  at  Latrah,  performing 

*  A  Ballycroy  ball,  on  the  "  free  and  easy  "  plan,  where  rouch 
whisky  and  no  ceremony  is  used. 


GHOSTS    AND    FAIRIES.  221 

*  apples  for  gentlemen,"*  with  another  suitor.  Nay, 
more,  the  quondam  lover,  as  was  reported,  had  actually 
cecisheo^d  Miss  Biddy  Currigan  across  the  bogs  ;  and  dark 
and  dangerous  innuendoes  arose  from  this  imprudent 
escort.  Andy  Bawn  was  unhappily  a  man  "  who 
doubts,  but  dotes  ;  suspects,  yet  fondly  loves."  Alas  ! 
what  was  to  be  done  ?  Could  Miss  Currigan  become 
Mrs.  Donahoo,  after  suffering  a  regular  blast ^  as  they 
call  it  in  the  kingdom  of  Connaught  ?  Impossible  ! 
her  character  must  be  cleared,  and  Andy  satisfied. 

The  magistrate  was  proposed — well,  that  was  good 
enough,  if  it  were  the  identity  of  a  strayed  sheep,  or 
the  murder  of  a  man  ;  but  in  a  nice  case,  like  Miss 
Currigan's,  it  was  totally  inefficient.  "  The  vestment 
would  be  taken," — still  better  ;  but  the  world  was 
censorious  :  and,  after  all,  Biddy  Currigan  was  a  giddy 
girl  to  cross  a  couple  of  miles  of  moorland,  after  midnight, 
with  a  declared  lover,  and  him  hearty  ;f — and  so  thought 
Andy  Bawn.  At  last  the  suspected  virgin  volunteered 
to  "  take  the  skull,"  dispel  the  fears  of  her  Hege  lord, 
and  put  calumny  to  the  blush  for  ever.  Andy  Bawn 
"  breathed  again  ;  "  and  the  otter-killer  was  directed 
to  provide  the  necessary  articles  for  the  ceremony. 

A  skull  was  accordingly  procured  from  a  neighbouring 
burying-ground  ;  and  Andy's  mother,  anxious  for  the 
honour  of  the  family,  threw  into  the  relic  a  bunch  of 
keys — for  iron,  they  say,  adds  desperately  to  the  solemnity 
of  the  obligation.  The  apparatus  being  paraded, 
Antony  explained  in  the  mother  tongue  that  the  sins 
of  the  lady  or  gentleman  to  whom  the  skull  had  once 

*  A  favourite  contre  danse  at  the  above  assemblies, 
■\  Anglice,  half  drunk, 


222  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

appertained  would  be  added  to  Miss  Currigan's,  if 
she,  Biddy,  swore  falsely  ;  and  Mrs.  Donahoo  jingled 
the  old  iron,  and  showed  that  she  was  '*  awake  to  time," 
and  had  left  nothing  on  her  part  undone  that  could 
give  effect  to  the  ceremonial.  Miss  Currigan,  with 
a  step  and  bearing  that  might  silence  slander,  advanced 
under  the  direction  of  the  otter-killer  : — ^like  a  maid  "  in 
the  pride  of  her  purity,"  she  devoutly  placed  her  hand 
upon  the  skull — and  Andy  Bawn  was  made  a  happy  man 
for  ever  ! 

That  the  saints  are  often  and  scandalously  overreached 
by  sinners,  is  a  fact  which  must  be  admitted,  and 
lamented.  One  case  of  base  dishonesty  has  but  recently 
occurred  in  the  establishment  of  my  cousin.  A  cook, 
whom  he  had  procured  through  the  agency  of  a  friend, 
has  proved  a  heavy  defaulter,  and,  as  Antony  says, 
"  scandalized  the  family."  For  a  considerable  time 
her  conduct  was  unquestionable  :  she  went  regularly 
to  Mass,  gave  half-a-crown  at  Easter,  never  missed  Con- 
fessions, and,  better  still,  conducted  the  culinary 
department  with  excellent  propriety, — so  much  so,  that 
Father  Andrew  declared  from  the  altar  that  she  was 
an  exemplary  artiste  and  a  capital  Christian.  "  Frailty, 
thy  name  is  woman  !  "  This  paragon  of  cooks  levanted 
one  frosty  night  with  a  travelling  pedler.  Then,  and 
not  till  then,  was  the  dark  side  of  her  character  exhibited. 
*'  She  did  not  value  Lent  a  traneein — had  shared  a  rasher 
with  Sir  Charles's  man  upon  a  blessed  Friday — and, 
if  a  skillet  went  astray,  she  would  promise  a  pilgrimage 
to  the  Reek  for  its  recovery,  without  the  least  intention 
of  ever  laying  a  leg  upon  that  blessed  hill." 

The  morning  after  her  disappearance,  her  sins  were 
freely  canvassed  in  the  kitchen.     "  The  Lord  forgive 


GHOSTS    AND  FAIRIES.  223 

her  !  "  said  the  keeper,  "for  I  can't ;  she  treated  the 
young  dogs  abominably.  Spot  will  lose  a  claw  ;  and  I 
am  sure  it  was  Sibby,  the  devil  speed  her  I  that  scalded 
him." 

"  She  could  hide  a  quart  of  spirits,  and  it  would  never 
show  upon  her,"  cried  Pattigo. 

"  She  was  mighty  dangerous  in  a  house,"  exclaimed 
the  black-eyed  chamber-maid  ;  "I  never  settled  the 
master's  room,  but  she  was  sure  to  pass  the  window." 

"  She's  gone,"  said  the  otter-killer  ;  *'  there's  worse 
in  the  north  than  Sibby.  Many  a  good  bowl  of  broth 
she  gave  me.  Tho  she  mur  tho  she  ;  agus  neil  she  gun 
lought*  She  was  no  great  Catholic,  it  is  true  I  for  she 
owned  to  me  last  St.  John's — and  she  hearty  at  the  time 
— that  she  was  in  debt  four  stations  at  Ball,  and  three 
and  twenty  at  Croagh  Patrick  I  She  was,  the  crature, 
a  fine  warrant  for  a  promise,  but  the  worst  performer 
under  the  canopy  of  heaven — she'll  never,"  said  the  old 
man,  with  his  own  peculiar  chuckle,  "  clear  scores  with 
the  Reek  and  Father  Nolan.  In  troth,  I  think  it  would 
almost  puzzle  Bobby  I "  This  extraordinary  being, 
it  should  be  explained,  lived  at  the  foot  of  Croagh  Patrick, 
and  was  the  first  performer  (religious)  of  his  day  in 
Connaught.  He  generally  resided  at  the  house  of  a 
neighbouring  gentleman  ;  and  when  a  pilgrim  visitor 
was  discouraged  by  the  acclivity  of  the  hill,  or  the 
quantity  of  prayers  to  be  got  over,  Bobby,  for  a  con- 
sideration, undertook  and  executed  the  task.  He  was 
not  only  a  harmless,  but,  as  may  be  well  imagined,  a 
very  useful  personage  ;  and  his  death  has  left  a  blank 
which  has  never  yet  been  filled. 

*  Anglice,  "  She  is  as  she  is  ;   but  she's  not  without  her  fault." 


224 


WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 


The  remains  of  poor  Bobby,  at  his  own  request,  were 
transported  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  and  deposited 
on  the  apex  of  Croagh  Patrick,  where  he  had  so  often 
and  so  usefully  performed.  As  he  was  laid  where  no 
other  body  rested,  the  line  intended  for  Sir  John  Moore, 
would  be  probably  more  applicable  to  the  hermit : 

'*  They  left  him  alone  with  his  glory  1  " 


DEER   STALKING.  225 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

If  a  man  were  obliged  to  chronicle  with  brevity  the 
leading  events  of  our  terra  incognita^  I  would  advise  him 
to  reduce  them  to  "  arrivals  and  departures."  As  the 
door  is  never  locked,  the  stream  of  visitors  is  incessant. 
Every  man  coming  from  "  the  corners  of  the  earth  " 
drops  in  with  a  '*  God  save  all  here  !  "  This  is  the 
Shibboleth  of  Ballycroy  ;  the  accredited  letter  of  intro- 
duction, and,  better  for  the  traveller  still,  a  full  acquit- 
tance for  meat,  drink,  and  lodging. 

This  morning  we  have  had  an  illiterative  arrival — 
a  piper,  a  pedler,  and  a  priest.  Although  I  place  them 
according  to  their  order  of  approach,  I  need  scarcely 
say  that  the  last,  our  respected  friend,  has  given  unex- 
pected pleasure.  For  me,  the  visit  is  delightful,  for  I 
hope  to  obtain  another  lesson  in  the  "  gentle  art."  The 
Colonel  has  embraced  this  "  Walton  of  the  wilderness  ;  " 
a  man  on  whom  four  bottles  would  not  show,  and  to 
whom,  in  woodcraft  and  theology,  in  the  commander's 
opinion,  the  clerk  of  Copmanhurst  himself  was  little 
better  than  a  bungler ;  and,  notwithstanding  my 
kinsman's  delinquency  in  intercepting  the  despatches, 
and  abstracting  the  enclosure,  he  has  escaped  with  a 
tap  or  two  upon  the  cheek  ;  for,  as  Antony  declares, 
*'  Father  Andrew  dotes  upon  the  Master.'' 

But  a  shepherd  in  breathless  haste  has  rushed  into  the 
cabin.  By  expressive  signs,  and  a  few  words,  he  has 
conveyed  the  intelligence  to  Mr.  Hennessey  that  three 
outlying  deer  are  at  this  minute  in  a  neighbouring  glen. 
He  saw  them  in  a  valley,  as  he  crossed  the  brow  above. 

Q 


226  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

Nothing  short  of  the  landing  of  a  French  army  or  a 
smuggler  could  occasion  such  confusion.  The  chamber 
of  state  is  invaded,  rifles  are  uncased,  shot  exchanged 
for  bullets,  a  basket  with  refreshments  packed  :  all  is 
hurry  and  preparation,  and  in  an  incalculably  short 
time  we  are  ready  for  the  fray,  and  in  full  march  for  the 
mountains.  Shakespeare,  or  he  is  belied,  was  in  his 
youth  a  deer  fancier,  and  he  would  probably  describe 
this  busy  scene  by  "  loud  alarum,  exeunt  omnes.''' 

The  day  is  particularly  favourable,  the  sun  shines 
brilHantly,  the  sky  is  without  a  cloud,  and  if  we  even 
miss  the  deer,  I  trust  that  the  prospect  from  the  mountain- 
top  will  more  than  repay  our  labour  in  ascending  it.     The 
party  comprises  three  guns    and  some  ten  or  twelve 
drivers,  with  our  guide.     My  kinsman  and  Hennessey 
have  rifles  ;    I  am  no  marksman  with  a  bullet,  and  I 
declined  to  take  one,  and  therefore  must  put  my  trust 
in  honest  John  Manton.     We  bend  our  course  directly 
to  the  mountain  cleugh,  where  the  deer  were  seen  by 
the  peasant ;    but  when  we  reach  the  base  of  the  hills, 
we  must  diverge  to  the  left,  and  make  a  considerable 
detour^  and,  judging  from  the  appearance  of  the  heights 
to  be  surmounted,  we  have  work  cut  out,  which,  before 
our  return  to  the  hut,  will  tell  what  metal  we  are  made 
of. 

Nor  is  the  garrison  during  our  absence  left  without 
protectors.  The  colonel,  the  priest,  the  otter-killer,- 
and  old  John,  there  keep  watch  and  ward.  The  former 
twain  appear  to  have  sworn  eternal  friendship  over  a 
three-legged  table,  and  are  settled  tete-d-tete  at  either 
side  of  the  cabin  window,  with  all  the  requisites  for 
fabricating  flies  displayed  before  them.  Antony  is 
greasing  his  otter-trap  beside  the  fire.     He  still  indulges 


DEER  STALKING.  227 

the  vain  hope  that  his  rheumatism  may  be  cured,  and 
that  he  will  once  more  revisit  the  remoter  loughs,  where 
otters  are  abundant,  and  where  many  of  his  happier 
days  were  ''  lang  syne  "  spent.  Poor  fellow !  his 
hunting  is  ended,  and  his  trap,  like  a  warrior's  sword, 
must  be  laid  aside,  for  age  has  come  heavily  upon  its 
master.  Old  John,  ''  the  last  and  trustiest  of  the  four," 
has  assumed  his  culinary  apron,  and  from  the  strength 
and  array  of  his  "  materiel "  it  is  clear  that  he  calculates 
little  upon  the  red  deer  venison  we  shall  bring  home. 
A  smart  walk  of  some  three  miles  over  an  undulating 
surface,  of  gentle  but  regular  ascent,  brought  us  to  the 
deep  and  circular  lake  which  lies  at  the  base  of  Carrig-a- 
binniogh ;  it  seems  the  boundary  between  the  hill- 
country  and  the  moorlands.  Here  we  halted,  and  held 
with  the  peasants  a  council  of  war  on  the  course  of 
operations  to  be  pursued. 

The  situation  of  this  mountain  lough  is  extremely 
picturesque  ;  on  three  sides  it  is  embosomed  in  the 
hills,  which  rise  boldly  from  the  water's  edge,  and  for 
many  hundred  feet  appear  to  be  almost  perpendicular. 
Its  depth  is  considerable,  and  hence  bright  as  the  day  is, 
the  waters  have  a  dark  and  sombre  look.  It  abounds  with 
trout  of  moderate  size  and  excellent  flavour.  They 
were  rising  fast  at  the  natural  fly,  and  appeared  generally 
to  be  herring-sized. 

While  resting  here,  preparatory  to  attempting  to  ascend 
the  heights,  Cooney,  the  guide,  related  a  very  apposite 
adventure. 

Late  in  the  autumn  of  the  preceding  year  the  peasant 
had  visited  the  lake  with  his  fishing-rod.  The  trout 
took  well,  and  Cooney  had  nearly  filled  his  basket, 
when  he  was  startled  by  the  report  of  a  gun  at  no  great 


228  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

distance  up  the  hill.     While  he  looked  in  the  direction 
from  whence  the  shot  appeared  to  have  been  discharged, 
a  fine,  full-grown  stag  crossed  the  brow  above   him, 
tottered  downwards  for  some  twenty  steps,  and  then, 
falling  into  a  steep  and  stony  ravine,  rolled  lifelessly 
over,  until  he  reached  the  very  spot  where  the  astonished 
fisherman  was  standing.     Before  his  surprise  had  time 
to  abate,  a  man,  armed  with  a  French  gun,  leaped  upon 
the  bank  over  which  the  deer  had  fallen,  and  was  joined 
immediately  by  a  companion,  armed  also  with  a  fowling- 
piece.     Then,   for   the   first   time,   they   observed   the 
startled    angler.     The    discovery    was    anything    but 
agreeable  ;    for,  after  a  momentary  pause,  they  rushed 
down  the  hill  together,  and  presenting  their  long  guns 
at  Cooney's  breast,  ordered  him  to  decamp,  in  terms 
that   admitted   of   no   demur.     The   angler   absconded 
forthwith  ;    for,  as  he  reasoned  fairly  enough,  "  a  man 
who  could  drive  an  ounce  of  lead  through  a  stag's  skull, 
would    find   little    trouble    in    drilling    a    Christian." 
On  looking  round,  he  saw  the  deer-stealers  place  the 
carcass  on  their  shoulders  and  ascend  the  heights,  over 
which  they   quickly  disappeared.     The  feat  is   almost 
incredible,  and  it  required  an  amazing  effort  of  strength 
and  determination  to  transport  a  full-grown  red-deer 
over  a  precipitous  mountain,  which  we,  in  light  marching 
order,    and    with   no   burden   but   our  guns,  found    a 
difficult  task  enough  to  climb. 

How  did  the  poacher  happen  to  be  armed  with  a 
French  gun  ?  Well,  when  the  French,  under  Humbert, 
landed  at  Killala  in  the  autumn  of  1798,  they  brought 
with  them  a  large  quantity  of  arms  and  military  clothing, 
to  equip  the  numerous  partisans  they  expected  to  have 
found  in  the  country.     After  the  French  general  was 


DEER   STALKING.  229 

defeated,  and  the  insurrection  had  been  put  down, 
many  of  the  guns  which  had  been  distributed  among  the 
peasantry,  were  buried,  or  effectually  concealed  ;  and 
they  have  been  used  in  poaching  and  wild-fowl  shooting 
to  the  present  time.  The  French  barrels  are  said  to 
throw  shot  much  better  than  those  of  English  muskets. 
I  have  never  seen  their  relative  merits  proven,  but 
imagine  that  the  superiority  of  the  former  is  owing  to 
their  greater  length. 

From  its  very  base,  Carrig-a-binniogh  presents  a 
different  surface  to  the  moorlands  which  environ  it ; 
heath  is  no  more  seen,  and  in  its  place  the  mountain's 
rugged  sides  are  clothed  with  lichen  and  wild  grasses. 
The  face  of  the  hill  is  broken  and  irregular,  and  the 
ascent  rendered  extremely  disagreeable  by  multitudes 
of  loose  stones  which,  being  lightly  bedded  in  the  soil, 
yield  to  the  pressure  of  the  traveller's  foot,  and,  of 
course,  increase  his  difficulties. 

After  the  first  hundred  yards  had  been  gallantly 
surmounted,  we  halted  by  general  consent  to  recover 
breath.  Again,  we  resumed  our  labour,  and,  with 
occasional  pauses,  plodded  on  "  our  weary  way."  As 
we  ascended,  the  hill  became  more  precipitous,  the  grass 
shorter,  and  the  hands  were  as  much  employed  as  the 
feet.  The  halts  were  now  more  frequent ;  and  each 
progression  towards  the  summit  shorter  after  every 
pause.  ''  To  climb  the  trackless  mountain  all  unseen" 
is  very  poetical,  no  doubt,  but  it  is  also,  I  regret  to  add, 
amazingly  fatiguing,  and  a  task  for  men  of  thews  and 
sinews  of  no  ordinary  strength.  But  we  were  determined 
and  persevered — ''  en  avant,''  was  the  order  of  the  day  ; 
on  we  progressed,  slowly  but  continuously  ;  the  steepest 
face  of  the  hill  was  gradually  overcome,  and  a  wide 


230  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

waste  of  moss  and  shingle  lay  before  us,  rising  towards 
a  cairn  of  stones  which  marks  the  apex  of  the  mountain. 
We  pressed  on  with  additional  energy  ;  the  termination 
of  our  toil  was  in  view  ;  in  a  few  minutes  we  gained  the 
top,  and  a  scene,  glorious  beyond  imagination,  burst 
upon  us  at  once,  and  repaid  tenfold  the  labour  we  had 
encountered  to  obtain  it. 

We  stood  upon  the  very  pinnacle  of  the  ridge,  two 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea  ;  Clew  Bay, 
that  magnificent  sheet  of  water,  was  extended  at  our 
feet,  studded  with  its  countless  islands  :  inland,  the  eye 
ranged  over  a  space  of  fifty  miles  ;  and  towns  and 
villages,  beyond  number,  were  sprinkled  over  a  surface 
covered  with  grass,  and  corn,  and  heath,  in  beautiful 
alternation.  The  sun  was  shining  gloriously,  and  the 
variety  of  colouring  presented  by  this  expansive  land- 
scape was  splendidly  tinted  by  the  vertical  rays  of  light. 
The  yellow  corn,  the  green  pasturage,  the  russet  heaths, 
were  traceable  to  an  infinite  distance,  while  smaller 
objects  were  marked  upon  this  natural  panorama,  and 
churches,  towns,  and  mansions  occasionally  relieved 
the  prospect.  We  turned  from  the  interior  to  the  west ; 
there  the  dark  waters  of  the  Atlantic  extended,  till  the 
eye  lost  them  in  the  horizon.  Northward,  lay  the 
Sligo  islands  ;  and  southward,  the  Connemara  moun- 
tains, with  the  noble  islands  of  Turk  and  Boffin — ^nearer 
objects  seemed  almost  beneath  us  ;  Achil  was  below — 
Clare  Island  stretched  at  our  feet — while  our  own 
cabin  looked  like  a  speck  upon  the  canvas,  distinguished 
only  by  its  spiral  wreath  of  smoke  from  the  hillocks 
that  encircled  it.  There  was  an  indescribable  loneliness 
around,  that  gave  powerful  effect  to  all  we  saw.  The 
dreariness   of  the   waste  we   occupied  was   grand   and 


DEER  STALKING.  23 1 

imposing :  we  were  far  removed  from  everything 
human  ;  we  stood  above  the  world,  and  could  exclaim 
with  Byron,  *'  this,  this  is  solitude  !  " 

How  long  we  might  have  gazed  on  this  brilliant 
spectacle  is  questionable.  Hennessey,  less  romantic 
than  we,  reminded  us  that  it  was  time  to  occupy  the 
defile,  by  which  the  deer,  if  found,  and  driven  from  the 
lowlands,  would  pass  within  our  range.  Thus  recalled, 
we  looked  at  the  inmiediate  vicinage  of  the  cairn.  It 
was  a  wilderness  of  moss  and  bog,  and  granite,  barren 
beyond  description,  and  connected  with  the  upper 
levels  of  the  Alpine  ridge,  which  extended  for  miles  at 
either  side,  by  a  narrow  chain  of  rock,  which  seemed 
more  like  the  topping  of  a  parapet  than  the  apex  of  a 
line  of  hills.  Indeed,  a  more  desolate  region  could  not 
be  well  imagined  ; — no  sign  of  vegetation  appeared, 
if  scathed  lichens  and  parched  and  withered  flag-grass 
be  excepted.  The  mountain  cattle  were  rarely  seen 
upon  these  heights,  and  the  footmarks  upon  the  softer 
surface  were  those  of  the  deer  and  goats.  Hennessey 
discovered  the  tracks  of  a  herd  of  the  larger  species, 
which,  from  his  acute  observations,  had  evidently 
crossed  the  ridge  since  sunrise,  and  must,  from  their 
numerous  traces,  have  amounted  to  at  least  a  dozen. 

While  we  still  cast  a  ''  longing,  lingering  look  "  at 
a  scene  which,  I  lament  to  say,  I  shall  most  probably 
never  be  permitted  to  view  again — a  boy  rose  from  the 
valley  towards  the  south,  and  hastened  at  full  speed 
to  join  us.  His  communication  was  soon  made,  and, 
like  the  shepherd's  at  the  cabin,  pantomime  rather  than 
speech  conveyed  its  import.  His  tidings  were  momen- 
tous ;  the  deer  had  moved  from  the  place  in  which  they 
had  been  first  discovered,  and  were  now  within  one 


232  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

thousand  yards  of  the  place  where  we  were  resting. 
Hennessey  and  the  gossooti^  advanced  in  double  quick, 
and  where  the  ridge  is  steepest  between  the  highlands 
and  the  valley,  we  observed  them  make  a  sudden  halt 
and  creep  gingerly  forward  to  what  seemed  the  brow 
of  a  precipice.  We  followed  more  leisurely,  and 
adopting  a  similar  method  of  approach,  stole  silently 
on,  and  looked  over  the  chasm. 

The  precipice  we  were  on  forms  the  extremity  of  a 
long  but  narrow  ravine,  which,  gradually  rising  from 
the  lowlands,  divides  the  basis  of  Carrig-a-binniogh 
and  Meelroe.  It  was  a  perpendicular  rock  of  fearful 
height.  At  either  side  the  valley  was  flanked  by  the 
sides  of  the  opposite  hills  ;  and  they  sprung  up  so  rugged 
and  precipitous  as  to  be  quite  impracticable  to  all  but 
*'  the  wild  flock  which  never  needs  a  fold  "  ;  and  yet  the 
cleugh  below  was  like  a  green  spot  upon  a  wilderness. 
To  the  very  bases  of  the  ridges  it  was  covered  with 
verdant  grass  and  blooming  heather,  while,  at  the  upper 
end,  streams  from  several  well-heads  united  together 
and  formed  a  sparkling  rivulet,  which  wandered  between 
banks  so  green  and  shrubby,  as  formed  a  striking  con- 
trast to  the  barren  heaths  below  and  the  blasted  wilder- 
ness above. 

We  put  our  hats  aside,  and  peeped  over.  The  wave 
of  Hennessey's  hand  proved  the  boy's  report  to  be 
correct,  and  we  were  gratified  with  a  sight  of  those  rare 
and  beautiful  animals  which  formed  the  objects  of  our 
expedition.  They  were  the  same  leash  which  the  peasant 
had  noticed  in  the  lower  valley — an  old  stag,  a  younger 
one,  and  a  doe. 

The  great  elevation  of  the  precipice,  and  the  caution 

*  Anglice,  boy. 


DEER   STALKING.  233 

with  which  we  approached  the  verge,  permitted  us, 
without  alarming  them,  to  view  the  red  deer  leisurely. 
They  appeared  to  have  been,  as  yet,  undisturbed,  for 
after  cropping  the  herbage  for  a  little,  the  younger  stag 
and  the  hind  lay  down,  while  the  old  hart  remained 
erect,  as  if  he  intended  to  be  their  sentinel. 

The  distance  of  the  deer  from  the  ridge  was  too 
great  to  allow  the  rifle  to  be  used  with  anything  Uke 
certainty  ;  and  from  the  exposed  nature  of  the  hills 
at  either  side,  it  was  impossible  to  get  within  point- 
blank  range  undiscovered.  Hennessey  had  already  formed 
his  plans,  and  drawing  cautiously  back  from  the  ridge 
he  pulled  us  by  the  skirts,  and  beckoned  us  to  retire. 

We  fell  back  about  a  pistol  shot  from  the  cliff,  and  under 
a  rock,  which  bore  the  portentous  name  of  Craignamoina,* 
held  our  council  of  war. 

There  were  two  passes,  through  one  of  which  the  deer, 
when  roused  and  driven  from  the  glen,  would  most 
likely  retreat.  The  better  of  these,  as  post  of  honour, 
was,  more  politely  than  prudently,  entrusted  to  me — 
my  kinsman  occupied  the  other  ;  and  Hennessey,  having 
ensconced  us  behind  rocks,  which  prevented  our  ambush 
from  being  discovered,  crossed  to  the  other  side  of  the 
ridge,  and  I  lost  sight  of  him.  Meanwhile,  the  boy  had 
been  despatched  to  apprize  the  drivers  that  the  deer 
were  in  the  ravine,  and  to  notify  the  spot  where  we  were 
posted,  to  enable  them  to  arrange  their  movements 
according  to  our  plans. 

I  will  not  pretend  to  describe  the  anxious,  nay, 
agonizing  hour  that  I  passed  in  this  highland  ambuscade. 
The  deep  stillness  of  the  waste  was  not  broken  by  even 
the  twittering  of  a  bird.     From  the  place  where  I  lay 

*  Anglice,  the  rock  of  slaughter. 


234  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

concealed,  I  commanded  a  view  of  the  defile  for  the  dis- 
tance of  some  eighty  yards,  and  my  eye  turned  to  the  path 
by  which  I  expected  the  deer  to  approach,  until  to  gaze 
longer  pained  me.  My  ear  was  equally  engaged  ;  the 
smallest  noise  was  instantly  detected,  and  the  ticking  of 
my  watch  appeared  sharper  and  louder  than  usual. 
As  time  wore  on,  my  nervousness  increased.  Suddenly 
a  few  pebbles  fell — my  heart  beat  faster — but  it  was  a 
false  alarm.  Again,  I  heard  a  faint  sound,  as  if  a  light 
foot  pressed  upon  loose  shingle — it  was  repeated.  By 
Saint  Hubert,  it  is  the  deer  !  They  have  entered  the 
gorge  of  the  pass,  and  approach  the  rock  that  covers  me, 
in  a  gentle  canter  1 

To  sink  upon  one  knee  and  cock  both  barrels  was  a 
moment's  work.  Reckless  of  danger  the  noble  animals, 
in  single  file,  galloped  down  the  narrow  pathway.  The 
hart  led  the  way,  followed  by  the  doe,  and  the  old  stag 
brought  up  the  rear.  As  they  passed  me  at  the  short 
distance  of  twenty  paces,  I  fired  at  the  leader,  and,  as 
I  thought,  with  deadly  aim  ;  but  the  ball  passed  over 
his  back,  and  splintered  the  rock  beyond  him.  The 
report  rang  over  the  waste,  and  the  deer's  surprise  was 
evinced  by  the  tremendous  rush  they  made  to  clear  the 
defile  before  them.  I  selected  the  stag  for  my  second 
essay  ;  eye  and  finger  kept  excellent  time,  as  I  imagined 
— I  drew  the  trigger — a  miss,  by  everything  unfortunate  ! 
The  bullet  merely  struck  a  tyne  from  his  antler,  and, 
excepting  this  trifling  graze,  he  went  off  at  a  thundering 
pace,  uninjured. 

Cursing  myself,  John  Manton,  and  all  the  world, 
I  threw  my  luckless  gun  upon  the  ground,  and  rushed 
to  the  summit  of  a  neighbouring  rock,  from  which  the 
heights  and  valleys  beyond  the  gorge  of  the  pass  were 


DEER  STALKING.  ^35 

seen  distinctly.  The  deer  had  separated — ^the  hart  and 
doe  turned  suddenly  to  the  right,  and  were  fired  at  by 
my  cousin,  without  effect.  The  stag  went  right  ahead  ; 
and  while  I  still  gazed  after  him,  a  flash  issued  from  a 
hollow  in  the  hill,  the  sharp  report  of  Hennessey's 
piece  succeeded,  and  the  stag  sprang  full  six  feet  from 
the  ground,  and  tumbling  over  and  over  repeatedly, 
dropped  upon  the  bent  grass  with  a  rifle  bullet  in  his 
heart. 

I  rushed  at  headlong  speed  to  the  spot  where  the  noble 
animal  lay.  The  eye  was  open — ^the  nostril  expanded, 
just  as  life  had  left  him.  Throwing  his  rifle  down, 
Hennessey  pulled  out  a  clasp-knife,  passed  the  blade 
across  the  deer's  throat,  and,  requesting  my  assistance 
raised  the  carcass  by  the  haunches,  in  order  to  assist  its 
bleeding  freely. 

Having  performed  this  necessary  operation,  and 
obtained  the  assistance  of  two  of  our  companions  from 
the  valley,  whence  they  had  been  driving  the  deer,  we 
proceeded  to  transport  the  dead  stag  to  the  lowlands. 
It  was  no  easy  task,  but  we  accomplished  it  quickly; 
and  perceiving  some  horses  grazing  at  no  great  distance 
we  determined  to  press  one  for  the  occasion.  A  stout 
pony  was  most  unceremoniously  put  in  requisition, 
the  deer  laid  across  his  back,  and  after  emptying  flask 
and  basket  joyously  beside  a  stream  of  rock-water, 
we  turned  our  faces  to  the  cabin,  where  the  news  of  our 
success  had  already  arrived. 


236  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Wonderful  are  the  inventions  of  man  !  The  slaughter 
of  an  unhappy  stag  has  been  made  good  and  sufficient 
cause  for  all  the  idlers  of  the  community  assembling  at 
our  cabin.  They  are  squatted  round  the  fire  like 
Indians  in  a  wigwam — and  old  John,  no  bad  authority 
in  such  matters,  declares  in  a  stage  whisper  to  his  master, 
"  that  a  four-gallon  cag  will  scarcely  last  the  night, 
there  is  such  a  clanjamfry  of  coosherers  in  the  kitchen 
— ^the  devil  speed  them,  one  and  all !  "  Let  me  explain 
this  phrase.  It  is  used  in  Ireland  to  designate  that  useless 
and  eternal  tribe,  who  are  there  the  regular  attaches  of 
families  of  ancient  lineage.  Nurses,  fosterers,  discharged 
servants,  decayed  sportsmen,  and  idlers  of  every  sex, 
age,  and  calling,  come  under  this  description. 

There  was  a  higher  class  of  nuisance  under  the  title 
of  poor  relations  who  formerly  wandered  over  Connaught, 
and  from  the  interminable  ramifications  of  the  old 
families,  there  were  few  houses  into  which  these  worthies 
had  not  a  right  of  entree.  The  last  one  I  recollect  when 
a  boy,  traversed  the  country  upon  a  white  pony, 
dressed  in  dingy  black,  and  arrayed  in  a  cocked  hat ; 
a  certain  number  of  houses  were  under  annual  requi- 
sition, and  such  was  the  influence  of  annual  custom, 
that  none  would  venture  to  refuse  this  forced  hospitality, 
although  the  man  was  latterly  a  sad  bore.  Some  gentle- 
men, when  their  "  loving  cousin  "  was  expected,  had  his 
approach  observed,  and  stopped  him  in  the  avenue  with 
an  excuse  that  the  house  was  full,  and  a  subsidy  of  a 
few    guineas.     The    money    was    always    acceptable — 


A   SPORTSMAN  S   DINNER.  237 

and  whoever  unluckily  happened  to  be  next  number  on 
the  visiting  list  was  favoured  with  one  week  additional 
from  my  "  Cousin  Mac." 

"  Mac,"  with  his  Brigadier  wig  and  white  pony, 
has  gone  the  way  of  all  flesh,  and  by  travestying  a  line 
of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  one  could  add  : — 

"  The  last  of  all  the  bores  was  he." 

It  was  twilight  when  we  got  home.  The  deer  had 
arrived  before  us  and  was  already  hanging  up,  suspended 
from  the  couples.  A  cheerful  fire  blazed  in  the  room  of 
state,  while  exhilarating  effluvia  from  the  outer  chamber 
told  that  John's  preparations  were  far  advanced.  We 
had-scarcely  time  to  make  our  hurried  toilet  before 
the  table  was  covered,  and  Father  Andrew,  at  the  Colonel's 
especial  solicitation,  favoured  us  with  a  Latin  grace. 

No  one  merits  and  relishes  a  good  dinner  better  than 
a  grouse-shooter.  It  delights  me  to  see  my  companion 
eat  like  a  traveller  ;  and  to  please  me,  he  should  possess 
sufficient  acumen  to  enable  him  to  appreciate  the  fare. 
I  despise  the  man  who  is  cursed  with  a  Spartan  palate, 
and  who  hardly  knows  the  difference  between  beef  and 
mutton  ;  and  yet,  in  equal  ratio,  the  gourmand  is  my 
abomination.  There  is  a  limit  in  culinary  lore  beyond 
which,  as  I  opine,  the  sportsman  should  never  travel. 
Like  a  soldier,  he  will  sometimes  find  it  serviceable 
to  be  able  to  direct  the  broiling  of  a  steak  and  the  com- 
bination of  a  stew.  To  fabricate  a  curry,  or  even  regu- 
late a  hash,  may  be  tolerated  ;  and  in  a  wild  country  like 
Ballycroy,  or  the  Scottish  highlands,  this  knowledge  will 
frequently  be  "  worth  a  Jew's  eye  ;  "  but  everything 
beyond  this  in  kitchen  accomplishments  is  detestable. 
With    one     who      composed     omelets,     and     talked 


238  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

scholarly  of  the  materiel  of  a  plum-pudding — and  I 
once  had  the  misfortune  to  fall  into  a  shooting  party 
afflicted  with  such  a  personage — I  would  consort  no  more 
upon  the  heath  than  I  would  shoot  with  a  cook  or  draw 
a  cover  with  a  confectioner.  And  yet,  with  these 
antipathies,  I  recommend  the  neophyte  to  make  himself 
in  everything  as  independent  as  he  can.  A  few  practical 
lessons  are  worth  a  world  of  precept :  one  week's 
cooking  on  the  moors  will  render  him  for  life  an  adept  ; 
and  if  gun  and  angle  fail  him  not,  he  will  be  able  to 
command  a  dinner,  without  owing  to  the  devil  the 
compliment  of  a  bad  cook. 

Did  I  wish  to  elucidate  my  opinions,  I  would  stake 
them  upon  two  items  in  our  bills  of  fare.  The  soldier 
compounded  the  soup — and  such  soup  ! — and  yet  it 
was  the  simple  extract  of  a  mountain  hare,  and  five 
broken  birds,  which  had  been  too  much  injured  to 
permit  their  being  sent  away.  Shade  of  Kitchener  1 
one  spoonful  of  that  exquisite  potage  would  have  made 
thee  abandon  half  thy  theories,  and  throw  thy 
*'  cunningest  devices  "  to  the  winds  ! 

The  Priest  superintended  the  fish — ^an  eight-pound 
salmon,  crimped,  split,  sub-divided,  and  roasted  upon 
bog-deal  skewers  before  a  clear  turf-fire.  All  the 
sauces  that  Lazenby  ever  fabricated  could  not  produce 
that  soup  or  emulate  this  broil.  Let  him,  whose  jaded 
palate  a  club-house  cook  cannot  accommodate,  try 
the  cuisinerie  of  our  cabin.  He  shall  walk  to  the  mountain 
lake,  and  on  his  return,  the  Colonel  will  compose  a  soup, 
and  the  Priest  supply  a  salmon  :  if  eating  like  a  plough- 
man be  to  him  a  pleasure — 

"  If  these  won't  make  him. 
The  devil  take  himl" 


A  sportsman's  dinner.  239 

But,  lest  my  theories  be  mistaken,  I  must  say  that    I 
hold  cooking  and  ''  creature  comforts  "  as  very  secondary 
indeed  to  sport.     If  all  can  be  had,  so  much  the  better  ; 
and  when  I  recommend  the  tyro  to  learn  the  art  and 
mysteries  of  the  broiling  iron,  it  is  precisely  on  the 
principle  that  the  knowledge  how  to  cook  a  dinner  may, 
at  times,  be  as  necessary  for  him  as  to  know  how  to  wash 
a  gun.     No  man,  I  presume,  will  do  either,  who  can 
manage  to  have  them  done  by  a  deputy.     But  a  sports- 
man, a  keen,  straightforward  sportsman,  will,  of  necessity, 
be  often  left  dependent  upon  his  own  resources,  and  hence 
he  should  be  prepared  for  the  contingency.     It  is  the 
abuse  I  cry  out  against.     A  man  who  on  the  mountains 
counts  the  minutes  until  dinner-hour  shall  come,  who 
is    seeking   an   appetite    rather   than   amusement,    and 
instead  of  game  is  dreaming  of  gourmanderie — him   I 
totally  reject,  and  implore  to  lay  aside  his  gun  for  ever, 
and  exchange  the  powder-flask  for  the  pepper-box.     The 
latter  he  will  find  more  useful,  and  not  half  so  dangerous. 
It  was  clear  from  the  very  start   that  this  was  to  be 
among  the  wettest  nights  of  the  season.     The  Colonel 
settled  himself  for  a  comfortable  carouse  ;    the  Priest 
was  not  the  man  to  desert  his   huon  camarado ;    and 
Antony  declared  that  there  was  good  cause  for  a  general 
jollification,  as  he  properly  observed  that    "  it  was  not 
every  day  that  Manus  kills  a  bullock,"  by  which  old 
saw,   I   presume,  the   defunct   deer   and   ourselves   are 
typified.     No  wonder,  then,  that  the  revel  commenced 
with  all  the  members  of  the  body  politic  ;    and  whilst 
the  contents   of  the   "  four-gallon  keg  "  were  invaded 
in  the  kitchen,  the  wine  circulated  rapidly  in  the  chamber 
of  state.     In   truth,    during   my   short   but   chequered 
life,  civil  and  military,  I  never  saw  a  party  evince  an 


240  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

honester  disposition  to  drink  fair.  No  coquetry  about 
filling ;  no  remonstrances  touching  "  heeltaps  and 
skylights  ;  " — round  went  the  bottle,  until  the  juice 
of  the  grape  appeared  too  cold  a  fluid  for  such  mercurial 
souls,  and  a  general  call  for  a  more  potent  liquid  was 
given  and  obeyed. 

Now  came  ''  the  sweet  hour  i'  the  night,"  and  old 
Care  might,  if  he  pleased,  have  *'  hanged  himself  in 
his  own  garters."  The  Priest,  whose  voice  must  once 
have  been  remarkably  fine,  and  who  certainly  never 
impaired  it  much  by  "  hallooing  psalms,"  sang  national 
melodies,  or  joined  the  Colonel  and  my  cousin  in  glees 
and  catches,  which,  as  Wamba  says,  were  not ''  ill-sung." 
"  Fast  and  furious  "  the  mirth  proceeded,  while,  "  every 
pause  between,"  clouds  of  tobacco  rose  like  a  mist- 
wreath,  and  overspread  the  company  with  a  canopy  of 
vapour. 

For  my  own  part,  every  prudential  resolution 
vanished  with  the  first  catch  ;  and  it  was  not  till  a  certain 
unsteadiness  of  vision  discovered  that  I  had  reached  that 
felicitous  state  when  no  twelve  honest  men,  upon  oath, 
would  certify  my  sobriety,  that  I  mustered  courage  to 
retreat.  I  felt  that,  had  I  remained  much  longer,  I 
was  likely  to  become  hors  de  combat;  and,  lighting 
a  cigar,  left  the  cabin  to  breathe  the  fresh  air,  which  long 
since  had  been  superseded  in  the  banqueting-room  by 
an  atmosphere  of  genuine  cannastre. 

It  was  a  mild,  calm,  dark  night,  and  such  a  one  feels 
delicious  in  the  hills.  Two  or  three  solitary  stars  were 
feebly  twinkling  in  the  sky,  though,  were  the  truth  told, 
probably  there  was  but  one.  I  took  the  pathway  leading 
to  the  river,  and  sat  down  upon  the  banks,  to  ''  blow 
my  cloud  "  in  solitude.     I  was  not,  however,  permitted 


A  sportsman's  dinner.  241 

to  muse  alone  ;  my  kinsman  immediately  joined  me, 
and  settling  himself  upon  one  of  the  masses  of  turf, 
which  the  floods  tear  from  the  banks  of  the  stream,  and 
leave,  when  their  violence  subsides,  upon  the  verge  of 
the  river,  replenished  his  meerschaum. 

''  How  refreshing,"  he  said,  "  to  exchange  that 
mephitic  air  within  for  this  mild  but  bracing  night- 
breeze  !  I  saw  you  pass  the  glass,  and  I  desired  John 
to  bring  us  out  some  coffee.  It  is  a  queer  place,  too, 
for  a  Mocha  fancier  to  indulge  in  ;  but  this  is  the  charm 
that  binds  me  to  the  mountains.  In  life,  locality  is 
everything  ;  it  is  not  the  what  one  does,  it  is  the  where. 
Venison  at  a  city  feast  is  an  every-day  concern  ;  and  the 
best  haunch  in  England  would  not  have  the  gusto  of  the 
red  deer's  that  hangs  from  the  roof  within.  Common 
comfort  in  a  wilderness  like  this,  from  the  barrenness 
of  all  around,  receives  a  zest,  which  nothing  in  civilized 
society  can  realize,  and  '  voild  Vexemple.'  " 

Lighted  by  a  peasant  with  a  bog-deal  torch,  that 
emitted  more  light  than  forty  candles  together,  the  old 
man  approached  us  with  his  tray.  Coffee  taken  in  the 
open  air,  "  in  darkness  palpable,"  into  which  the 
powerful  blaze  of  the  torch  which  our  bare-legged 
attendant  held  could  but  feebly  penetrate,  asso- 
ciated with  the  place  and  company,  made  an  impression 
on  my  fancy  that  will  not  be  readily  obliterated. 

But  hark  !  the  Priest  pitches  that  manly  and  melodious 
voice — he  strikes  up  poor  Burns's  inimitable  lyric,  *'  Then 
are  we  met.'^  That  matchless  song  was  surely  written 
for   such  a  voice   and  such  a  company  ! 

Under  cover  of  the  Priest's  melody  we  approached  the 
window.  There  sat  a  party,  who  might  well  put  the 
Temperance    Society   to   the   blush.     For   their   years, 


242  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

I  suspect  there  was  not  a  healthier,  and  I  will  swear  not  a 
happier,  trio  in  the  King's  dominion.     It  was  just  the 
scene  a  Flemish  artist  would  select  to  employ  his  pencil 
on.     For  effect,  the  light  was  excellent :    the  candles 
having  been  removed  to  the  extremity  of  the  apartment, 
the  bacchanalian  group  were  revealed  by  the  red  and 
mellow   blaze   of  a  brilliant  wood-fire.     Separated   by 
a  table,  provided  with  every  requisite  for  a  deep  carouse, 
sat  the  soldier  and  the  churchman.     The  back  of  the 
latter  was  turned  to  the  window,  but  his  amplitude  of 
shoulder  and  bull-neck  at  once  bespoke  the  strength 
for  which  he  was  remarkable,  while  the  partial  baldness 
of  his  head  told  that  he  had  passed  life's  meridian.     The 
tall  and  martial  figure  opposite  contrasted  well  with  the 
churchman's.     Older    by    some    half-score    years,    he 
might,  like  Jack  Falstaff,  be  "  some  fifty,  ay,  or,  by  the 
mass,  threescore  !  "  but  his  age  was  green  ;    and  not- 
withstanding the  wear  and  tear  that  a  military  life  and 
its   occasional  excesses  had  caused,  his  cheerful  coun- 
tenance and  merry  eye  showed  that  he  loved  yet  to  hear 
*'  the    chimes    at    midnight."     The    otter-killer    com- 
pleted the  group  :  sitting  on  a  low  stool,  from  time  to 
time    he   regulated   and   supplied   the   wood-fire ;     his 
silver   hair   collected   in   a   long   cue,   seal-skin   pouch, 
singular  dress,  and  venerable  air,  made  him  the  most 
striking  figure  of  the  party.     A  little  terrier  bitch,  who 
never  left  her  master,  lay  at  the  old  man's  feet,  while 
an  indulged  black  setter  luxuriated  before  the  blaze,  with 
his    intelligent   head   and   pendulous    silky   ears    rested 
on  the  Colonel's  knee. 

"Is  not  that  indeed  a  picture  ? "  whispered  my 
cousin.  *'  What  heads  they  have  ?  John  placed 
yonder  bottle  before  them  as  I  went  out,  and  two  parts 


A  sportsman's  dinner. 


243 


of  it  are  gone  already.  But,  hush  !  let  us  hear  the 
conversation.  I  think  if  there  be  strength  in  poteen 
the  Colonel  has  reached  the  moralising  point." 

"  Andrew,"  said  the  commander.  ("  The  Colonel," 
said  my  kinsman,  aside,  "  is  generally  hard  screwed  when 
he  calls  the  Priest  Andrew.") 

*'  Andrew,  fill  the  glass  :  the  boys  are  ruminating 
beside  the  river  ;  their  young  blood  is  hotter  than  ours, 
so  we'll  stick  to  the  ingle- side  and  the  tumbler.  There 
was  a  day  when  we  could  bring  a  stag  to  the  ground, 
and  scramble  up  Carrig-a-binniogh  as  stoutly  as  the 
best  of  them, — but  that  day  s  gone  :  we  have  changed 
for  the  worse,  and  so  has  everything.  Andrew,  in  our 
youth  it  was  a  merry  world.  But  who  succeeded  old 
Markham  ?  He  was  as  honest  a  divine  as  ever  finished 
a  magnum.  They  talked — ^for  virtue  has  always  its 
enemies — of  his  smuggling  a  little,  and  having  a  private 
still  in  the  stable  ;  but  it  was  all  hospitality.  Andrew, 
the  poteen  is  sweet,  but  weak — ^help  it,  man,  for  these 
glasses  scarcely  hold  a  thimbleful ! — at  our  age  water- 
drinking  won't  do. — Not  a  drop  of  brandy,  you  say 
inside    the    Mullet  ?  "* 

"  Not  an  anker  in  the  barony  !  "  returned  his  com- 
panion, with  a  heavy  sigh.  "  There  was  a  time  when  my 
poor  cabin  could  not  be  taken  short  for  Nantz  and 
Hollands  ;  but  if  I  can  keep  a  bottle  of  the  native  now, 
it  is  the  most.  Would  you  believe  it,  Colonel  ?  the 
revenue  people  searched  my  house  a  month  ago." 

The  Colonel  looked  indignant.  "  Search  your  house  ? 
profane  a  Priest's  own  dwelling  ?     Why,  after  a  while 

*  The  grand  boundary  of  the  wild  peninsula  of  Erris,  separating 
it  from  the  interior  counties.  It  is  used  in  a  general  sense  to  describe 
the  district — as  "  within  or  without  the  Mullet." 


244  ^^^°   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

they'll  look  into  the  Lodge.     Did  you  curse  the  scoun- 
drels from  the  altar  ?  " 

"  Not  I,"  said  the  churchman.  "  They  are  all  north- 
men*  and  foreigners,  who  would  not  care  a  brass  button 
whether  I  banned  or  blessed  them  for  a  twelvemonth. 
There  is  a  ruffian  of  the  flockf  that  acts  as  a  spy  and 
guide,  and  I  suspect  he  sent  them." 

"  Excommunicate  him  !  "  exclaimed  the  commander, 
with  drunken  solemnity. 

"  I  did  that  last  Candlemas.  He  brought  a  girl  out 
of  Achil,  on  hook  oath,  and  he  with  his  three  decent 
wives  in  the  parish  already.  I  quenched  the  candles 
on  him,  and  then  he  took  to  the  revenue — Nemo  repente 
juit  turpissimusy 

"  And  how  do  you  and  the  new  minister  get  on  ?  " 

"  Poorly  enough,"  answered  the  Priest.  "  This 
reformation  work  has  put  the  country  clean  asunder." 

*'  No  good  will  come  of  it,"  said  the  Colonel.  "  I 
mind  the  time  in  Connaught  when  no  man  clearly  knew 
to  what  religion  he  belonged  ;  and  in  one  family  the 
boys  would  go  to  church  and  the  girls  to  mass,  or  may  be, 
both  would  join  and  go  to  whichever  happened  to  be 
nearest.  When  I  entered  the  militia,  I  recollect,  the 
first  time  I  was  ever  detached  from  head-quarters,  I 
went  with  the  company  to  Portumna.  Old  Sir  Mark 
Blake,  who  commanded  the  regiment,  happened  to  be 
passing  through,  and  the  night  before  he  had  had  a 
desperate  drink  with  General  Loftus  at  the  Castle. 
When  I  left  Loughrea,  I  forgot  to  ascertain  where  I 

*  Northmen  is  a  phrase  not  only  applied  to  recent  settlers  from 
the  North  of  Ireland,  but  even  to  families  who  have  been  located 
here  tor  centuries. 

t  The  flock — a  Roman  Catholic  congregation  is  so  termed  ip 
Connaught, 


A  sportsman's  dinner.  245 

should  bring  the  men  on  Sunday,  and  I  thought  this 
a  good  opportunity  to  ask  the  question.  I  opened  his 
bedroom-door  softly.  *  Sir  Mark/  says  I,  '  where 
shall  I  march  the  men  ? '  *  What  kind  of  a  day  is  it  ? ' 
says  he.  *  Rather  wet/  was  my  answer.  '  It's  like 
the  night  that  preceded  it/  says  he.  '  Upon  my  con- 
cience,  my  lad/  he  continued,  *  my  head's  not  clear 
enough  at  present  to  recollect  the  exact  position  of 
church  and  chapel ;  but  take  them  to  the  nearest.''  That 
is  what  I  call,"  and  the  Colonel  shook  his  head  gravely, 
"  real  Christian  feeling." 

"  Real  Christian  feeling,"  said  the  Priest,  with  a  groan 
"  is  nearly  banished  from  the  world.  When  I  went 
first  to  Castlebar,  to  learn  Latin  from  Dan  Donovan, 
my  uncle  Martin,  God  be  merciful  to  him  !  was  parish 
priest,  and  Jack  Benton  was  the  minister.  They  agreed 
like  sworn  brothers,  and  no  one  dared  say  a  word  against 
either  in  the  presence  of  his  friend.  Where  the  priest 
dined,  the  curate  was  sure  to  be  also.  They  lived  in 
true  brotherhood  ;  and  when  one  happened  to  be  the 
worse  of  liquor,  why  the  other  would  not  leave  him  for 
a  bishopric.  The  town  was  the  most  peaceable  place 
in  Connaught ;  and  how  could  it  be  otherwise  with  such 
an  example  ?  Many  a  night  I  went  before  them  with 
a  lantern,  when  they  carried  Carney,  the  lame  fiddler, 
round  the  streets,  to  serenade  the  ladies.  There  they 
would  walk  like  humble  Christians,  with  the  cripple 
in  the  middle,  and  neither  caring  a  traneein  whether 
popery  or  protestantism  was  at  the  head  of  the  barrow. 
Those  were  blessed  days,  Colonel. — I'll  thank  you 
for  the  canister, — ^that  tobacco  is  excellent,  and  I'll  try 
another  pipeful." 

"  Och  hone  !  "   exclaimed  the  otter-killer,  "  isn't  it 


246  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

a  murder  to  see  the  clargy  making  such  fools  of  them- 
selves now  !  When  I  was  young,  priest  and  minister 
were  hand-and-glove.  It  seems  to  me  but  yesterday, 
when  Father  Patt  Joyce,  the  Lord  be  good  to  him  !  lent 
Mr.  Carson  a  congregation." 

"  Eh  !  what,  Antony  ?  "  said  the  Colonel.  "  A 
congregation  appears  rather  an  extraordinary  article  to 
borrow." 

"  Faith,"  said  the  otter-killer,  *'  it's  true.  I  was  there 
myself,  and  I'll  tell  you  the  story.  It  was  in  the  time 
of  Bishop  Beresford,  that  beautiful  old  man, — many  a 
half-crown  he  gave  me,  for  I  used  often  to  bring  game 
and  fish  to  the  palace  from  the  master's  father.  He  was 
the  handsomest  gentleman  I  ever  laid  my  eyes  on  ;  and, 
och  hone  !  it  was  he  that  knew  how  to  live  like  a  bishop. 
He  never  went  a  step  without  four  long-tailed  black  horses 
to  his  carriage,  and  two  mounted  grooms  behind  him. 
His  own  body-man  told  me,  one  time  I  went  with  a 
haunch  of  red-deer  and  a  bittern  to  the  palace,  that  never 
less  than  twenty  sat  down  in  the  parlour,  and,  in  troth, 
there  was  double  that  number  in  the  hall,  for  nobody 
came  or  went  without  being  well  taken  care  of. 

"  Well,  it  came  into  old  Lord  Peter's  head  that  he 
would  build  a  church,  and  settle  a  colony  of  northmen 
away  in  the  West.  Faith,  he  managed  the  one  easy 
enough  ;  but  it  failed  him  to  do  the  other,  for  devil 
an  inch  the  northmen  would  come  ;  for,  says  they, 
*  Hell  and  Connaught's  bad  enough,  but  what  is  either 
to  Connemara  ?  ' 

'*  Well,  the  minister  came  down,  and  a  nice  little 
man  he  was,  one  Mr.  Carson.  Father  Patt  Flyn  had  the 
parish  then,  and  faith,  in  course  of  time  they  two  became 
as  thick  as  inkle- weavers. 


A  sportsman's  dinner.  247 

"  Everything  went  on  beautiful,  for  the  two  clargy 
lived  together.  Father  Patt  Flyn  minded  his  chapel 
and  the  flock,  and  Mr.  Carson  said  prayers  on  a  Sunday, 
too,  though  sorrow  a  soul  he  had  to  listen  to  him  but 
the  clerk — but  sure  that  was  no  fault  of  his. 

"  Well,  I  mind  it  as  well  as  yesterday,  for  I  killed 
that  very  morning  two  otters  at  Loughnamucky,  and  the 
smallest  of  them  was  better  to  me  than  a  pound  note. 
It  was  late  when  I  got  down  from  the  hills,  and  I  went  to 
Father  Patt's  as  usual,  and  who  should  I  meet  at  the 
door  but  the  priest  himself.  '  Antony,'  says  he,  '  ceade 
fealteaghy  have  you  anything  with  you,  for  the  wallets 
seem  full  ?  '  *  I  have,'  says  I,  your  *  reverence  '  ;  and 
I  pulls  out  two  pairs  of  graziers,*  and  a  brace  of  three- 
pound  trouts,  fresh  from  the  sea,  that  I  caught  that 
morning  in  Dhulough.  In  these  days  I  carried  a 
ferret,  besides  the  trap  and  fishing-rod,  and  it  went 
hard  if  I  missed  the  otters  but  I  would  net  rabbits, 
or  kill  a  dish  of  trout.  '  Upon  my  conscience,'  says  the 
priest,  *  ye  never  were  more  welcome,  Antony.  The 
minister  and  myself  will  dine  off  the  trouts  and  rabbits 
for  they  forgot  to  kill  a  sheep  for  us  till  an  hour  ago  ; 
and  you  know,  Antony,  except  the  shoulder,  there's 
no  part  of  the  mutton  could  be  touched,  so  I  was  rather 
bothered  about  the  dinner.' 

"  Well,  in  the  evening,  I  was  brought  into  the  parlour, 
and  there  were  their  reverences  as  cur  coddiogh\  as  you 
please.  Father  Patt  gave  me  a  tumbler  of  rael  stiff 
punch,  and  the  divil  a  better  warrant  to  make  the  same 
was  within  the  province  of  Connaught.  We  were  just 
as  comfortable  as  we  could  be,  when  a  currierX  stops  at 

*  Young  rabbits.  -f  Anglice,  comfortable. 

J  A  has,  courier. 


248  WILD  SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

the  door  with  a  letter  which  he  said  was  for  Mr.  Carson. 
Well,  when  the  minister  opens  it,  he  got  as  pale  as  a 
sheet,  and  I  thought  he  would  have  fainted.  Father 
Patt  crossed  himself.  '  Arrah,  Dick,'  says  he,  '  the 
Lord  stand  between  you  and  evil  I  is  there  anything 
wrong  ? '  'I'm  ruined,'  says  he ;  *  for  some  had 
member  has  wrote  to  the  bishop,  and  told  him  that 
I  have  no  congregation,  because  you  and  I  are  so  intimate, 
and  he's  coming  down  to-morrow,  with  the  dane^  to  see 
the  state  of  things.  Och,  hone  !  '  says  he,  '  I'm  fairly 
ruined.'  *  And  is  that  all  that's  frettin'  ye  ? '  says  the 
priest,  '  Arrah,  dear  Dick  ' — for  they  called  each  other 
be  their  cristen  names, — '  is  this  all  ?  If  it's  a  congrega- 
tion ye  want,  ye  shall  have  a  decent  one  to-morrow, 
and  lave  that  to  me  ; — and  now  we'll  take  our  drink, 
and  not  matter  the  bishop  a  fig.' 

"  Well,  next  day,  sure  enough,  down  comes  the  bishop, 
and  a  great  retinue  along  with  him  ;  and  there  was  Mr. 
Carson  ready  to  receive  him.  *  I  hear,'  says  the  bishop, 
mighty  stately,  *  that  you  have  no  congregation.'  '  In 
faith,  your  holiness,'  says  he,  '  you'll  be  soon  able  to 
tell  that,' — and  in  he  walks  him  to  the  church,  and  there 
were  sitting  threescore  well-dressed  men  and  women, 
and  all  of  them  as  devout  as  if  they  were  going  to  be 
anointed  ;  for  that  blessed  morning.  Father  Fa  t  whipped 
mass  over  before  ye  had  time  to  bless  /cjurself,  and  the 
clanest  of  the  flock  was  before  the  bisiiop  in  the  church, 
and  ready  for  his  holiness.  To  see  that  all  behaved 
properly.  Father  Patt  had  hardly  put  off  the  vestment, 
till  he  slipped  on  a  cota  more^*  and  there  he  sat  in  a 
back  sate  like  any  other  of  the  congregation.  I  was 
near  the  bishop's  reverence  ;   he  was  seated  in  an  arm- 

*  Anglice,  a  great-coat. 


A  SPORTSMAN  S   DINNER.  249 

chair  belonging  to  the  priest. — '  Come  here,  Mr.  Carson/ 
says  he  ;  '  some  enemy  of  yours,'  said  the  sweet,  old 
gentleman,  *  wanted  to  injure  you  with  me.  But  I 
am  now  fully  satisfied.'  And  turning  to  the  dane, 
*  by  this  book  ! '  says  he,  '  I  didn't  see  a  claner  congre- 
gation this  month  of  Sundays  !  '  " 

"  He  said  no  such  thing''  exclaimed  my  kinsman,  who, 
tired  with  the  prolixity  of  the  otter-killer,  had  inter- 
rupted the  finale  of  the  tale.  *'  How  dare  you  Antony, 
put  such  uncanonical  and  ungentlemanly  language  in 
the  mouth  of  the  sweet  old  man  ?  Here,  John,  clear 
the  kitchen.  Out  with  the  piper,  and  chuck  the  keg 
after  him.  We'll  disperse  this  congregation  ;  and  they  may 
dance  outside  if  they  please,  while  pipes  and  poteen 
stand  them.  And  now,  ventilate  the  cabin,  open  door 
and  window,  and  sling  our  hammocks  as  soon  as 
possible." 

Agreeably  to  this  mandate,  the  kitchen  company 
were  ejected  with  scanty  ceremony  ;  the  Colonel  and 
the  Priest  retired  to  their  respective  beds  with  wonderful 
steadiness  :  while  we  took  possession  of  our  marquee, 
which,  under  existing  circumstances,  was  Paradise  itself 
compared  with  the  cabin,  whilch  smoking,  drinking, 
and  cooking  had  rendered  everything  but  agreeable. 


250  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST, 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


For  a  considerable  time  after  we  had  retired  to  our 
cots,  the  ball  was  kept  up  with  unabated  spirit  upon 
a  piece  of  level  sward  beside  the  river.  The  whisky 
appeared  to  affect  the  company  differently,  and  indi- 
vidual propensities  were  strikingly  developed.  Some 
of  the  boys  were  particularly  amative,  and  the  rude 
love-making  we  overheard  at  times  amused  us  much  ; 
others  betrayed  a  pugnacity  of  spirit  which  nothing 
but  the  master's  propinquity  repressed.  By  degrees 
the  company  began  to  separate  :  the  piper,  whose  notes 
for  the  last  half-hour  had  been  exceedingly  irregular, 
now  evinced  unquestionable  symptoms  of  his  being 
"  done  up.''  Instead  of  the  lightsome  and  well-sustained 
jig,  strange  and  dolorous  noises  issued  from  the  chanter,* 
and,  as  one  of  the  fair  sex  observed,  who,  by  the  way, 
in  passing,  tumbled  over  the  tent  cords, — "  Martin 
was  totally  smothered  with  spirits,  and  a  body  could  no 
more  dance  to  his  music  than  do  the  Patre  0'  pee  to 
acoronach  at  a  wake." 

It  was  well  that  this  failure  in  the  orchestral  depart- 
ment brought  the  ball  to  a  close,  for  at  midnight  the 
rain  began  to  fall,  and  towards  morning  it  came  down 
in  torrents.  We  were  obliged  to  rise  and  slack  the 
tent-cords  ;  but  the  marquee  was  a  double  one,  and 
perfectly  water-tight,  and,  as  the  cots  were  slung  from 
upright  posts  at  least  a  foot  from  the  ground,  we  suffered 
no  inconvenience  from  the  rain,  except  the  noise  it  made 
in   rattling   on   the   tense   canvas.     This,   however,   we 

*  The  principal  or  finger-pipe  of  the  set. 


WILD   CATS.  251 

soon  became  accustomed  to,  and  slept  till  eight  o'clock, 
as  sound  as  watchmen. 

Long  before  we  turned  out,  the  Colonel  and  Priest 
were  afoot,  and  we  heard  a  prayer  and  supplication  from 
the  commander  to  old  John  for  a  cup  of  strong  coffee, 
while  an  idler  was  despatched  to  the  next  well  by  the 
churchman  for  a  jug  of  cold  spring  water.  Pattigo, 
who  had  rambled  up  the  hills  with  a  basket  of  fish  and 
scallops,  remarked,  "  that  the  gentleman's  coppers,  he 
guessed,  were  rather  hot  this  morning,  and,"  as  he  eyed 
the  empty  bottles  which  were  being  removed,  "  to  judge 
from  the  number  of  the  marines,  it  was  little  wonder." 

From  Pattigo 's  parlance,  I  suspected  that  he  had  seen 
more  of  the  world  than  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  an 
ordinary  skipper  of  a  fishing-boat — nor  was  I  wrong. 
I  learned  from  his  master  that  for  some  good  conduct, 
no  doubt,  he  had  been  accommodated  with  board  and 
lodging  in  a  king's  ship  for  upwards  of  two  years,  and 
that  his  sojourn  there  would  have  been  much  longer, 
had  he  not  managed  to  abridge  the  visit,  by  slipping 
one  dark  night  over  the  vessel's  side,  and  swimming 
to  the  shore,  a  distance  of  two  miles.  On  this  Byronian 
feat,  however,  the  honest  navigator  seldom  plumes 
himself,  and  it  is  only  when  he  is  "  a  bit  by  the  head," 
that  this  exploit  is  mentioned. 

We  found  the  household  fully  occupied  in  the  cabin  ; 
John  in  regulating  the  chamber  of  state,  which,  not- 
withstanding open  doors  and  windows,  still  retained 
the  miasma  of  tobacco-smoke,  and  Hennessey  in  skinning 
and  breaking  up  the  deer.  If  I  had  been  yesterday 
delighted  with  his  superior  execution  with  the  rifle, 
I  was  now  surprised  at  the  masterly  manner  in  which 
he    dressed    and    dismembered    the    venison.      He    is 


252  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

certainly  a  clever  fellow,  and  could  I  but  forget  that  he 
has  finished  a  few  of  "  the  finest  peasantry  upon  earth," 
the  man  would  stand  as  high  in  my  estimation  as  he 
does  in  his  foster  brother's,   "  our  loving  cousin." 

When  breakfast  was  ended,  at  which,  to  do  them 
justice,  the  Colonel  and  the  Priest  did  their  devoir  most 
gallantly,  and  were  occupied  in  debating  what  should 
be  the  order  of  the  morning's  amusement,  and  to  fish, 
or  not  to  fish,  appeared  the  question,  an  incident  such  as 
in  this  wild  and  sylvan  state  of  things  every  day  produces, 
occurred.  It  was  the  arrival  of  a  young  lad,  who  brought 
an  otter-skin  of  unusual  size  as  a  present  to  '*  the  master," 
and  a  wounded  hand,  whereon  Antony  was  required  to 
exercise  his  leechcraft.  He  had  been  bitten  by  a  wild- 
cat, and  I  had  the  curiosity  to  examine  the  wound. 
The  hand  was  already  in  a  state  of  high  inflammation  ; 
and  the  ferocity  of  the  creature  must  indeed  have  been 
extraordinary,  to  judge  from  the  extent  of  the  injuries 
it  had  inflicted.  The  flesh  was  sadly  lacerated,  and  in 
two  places  the  bone  was  completely  exposed. 

The  sufferer,  it  appeared,  was  not  unknown  to  Antony, 
and,  from  the  free-masonry  which  passed  between  them, 
I  discovered  that  he  is  of  the  same  craft,  and  the  person 
upon  whom  the  otter-killer's  mantle  is  likely  to  descend, 
when  he,  Antony,  shall  have  gone  the  way  of  all  flesh. 
The  chief  occupation  of  the  wounded  man  is  digging 
out  foxes  in  the  mountains,  which  he  brings  afterwards 
for  sale  to  the  interior,  and  disposes  of  at  a  good  price 
to  the  masters  of  hounds.  This  morning  he  had  gone 
to  a  cover  in  the  hills,  in  his  usual  avocation,  when, 
from  some  traces  he  observed  beneath  a  rock,  he  con- 
cluded that  an  animal  was  earthed  there.  Having  put 
a  terrier  in,  his  suspicions  were  confirmed,  as  the  dog 


WILD   CATS.  253 

came  out  severely  torn,  and,  assisted  by  a  shepherd- 
boy,   he   laid   rabbit-nets   round   the   den,   commenced 
digging,   and,   before   he   had   proceeded   far,   a  cat   of 
immense  size  bolted.     She  was   breaking  through  the 
rabbit-net,  when  the  chasseur^  with  more  gallantry  than 
prudence,  seized  her  by  the  neck.     The  fierce  animal 
instantly   attacked   him   in   turn,   and,   fastening   upon 
his   hands   with   teeth   and   talons,   held   her   desperate 
grasp  until  the  boy,  with  the  edge  of  the  spade,  broke 
her  back.     They  brought  the  dead  beast  along  with  them  ; 
it  was  of  a  dirty  gray  colour,  double  the  size  of  the 
common  house-cat,  and  its  teeth  and  claws  more  than 
proportionately  larger. 

These  animals,  fortunately,  are  scarce,  and  generally 
frequent  the  neighbourhood  of  rabbit-warrens,  where 
they  prove  amazingly  destructive.  Hennessey,  two 
winters  since,  discovered  a  den  in  a  cleft  of  a  rock  upon 
the  shore,  and  adjoining  the  sand-banks,  which  are 
numerously  stocked  with  rabbits.  It  cost  him  immense 
trouble  to  penetrate  to  the  form,  where  he  killed  a  male 
and  female  wild-cat,  the  latter  being  large  with  young. 
Hennessey's  patience  and  ingenuity  were  sorely  taxed 
to  effect  their  destruction,  having  been  obliged  to  resort 
to  gunpowder,  and  blow  up  a  large  portion  of  the  rock, 
before  he  could  dislodge  his  dangerous  game.  In 
size  and  colour  they  were  precisely  similar  to  the  animal 
killed  in  the  mountain  by  the  fox-catcher  ;  and  had  they 
been  permitted  to  continue  their  species,  in  a  very  short 
time  the  adjacent  burrow  would  have  been  devastated. 

Besides  this  large  and  ferocious  species,  the  warrens 
upon  the  coast  suffer  much  from  the  common  cat  becom- 
ing wild,  and  burrowing  in  the  rabbit-holes.  They  are 
sometimes  surprised  and  shot  in  the  sand-banks,  or  taken 


254  WILD   SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

in  traps  ;  but  they  are  generally  too  wary  to  be 
approached — and  hunting  only  by  night,  during  the 
day  they  sleep  in  their  dens,  and  are  rarely  met  abroad. 

Some  estimate  of  their  numbers  may  be  formed 
from  the  circumstance  of  five  males  having  been  killed 
in  a  herdsman's  out-house  which  joined  the  warren. 
They  had  been  attracted  there  by  one  of  their  own 
species,  and  the  noise  having  alarmed  the  peasant,  he 
guessed  the  cause,  and  cautiously  managed  to  stop  the 
hole,  by  which  they  gained  entrance,  with  a  turf-cleave. 
Knowing  the  value  of  the  capture,  he  kept  guard  upon 
the  prisoners  till  morning,  and  then  despatched  infor- 
mation to  the  Lodge.  My  cousin,  with  his  followers, 
promptly  repaired  to  the  place,  and,  surrounding  the 
barn  with  guns  and  greyhounds,  bolted  the  wild  cats 
successively,  until  the  whole  number  were  despatched. 
This  chasse  was  not  only  novel,  but  profitable.  After 
the  death  of  their  persecutors,  the  rabbits  increased 
prodigiously,  but  fears  are  entertained  that  these 
destructive  animals  are  become  once  more  abundant  in 
the  sand-banks. 

When  the  dressings  were  removed,  we  found  that  the 
poor  lad  had  been  so  much  injured,  that  apprehension  of 
lock-jaw  induced  us  to  send  him  directly  to  the  infirmary. 
There  is  a  belief,  and  one  more  reasonable  than  many 
popular  opinions  in  Ballycroy,  that  a  wild-cat's  bite  is 
particularly  venomous.  My  cousin  remembers  a  case 
which  terminated  fatally  with  a  servant  of  his  father's  ; 
and  the  Priest  mentioned  another  of  a  country  girl,  who, 
finding  one  of  these  animals  in  a  barn,  rashly  attempted 
to  secure  it :  the  cat  wounded  her  slightly  in  the  leg, 
and  for  six  months  she  was  unable  to  use  the  limb. 
When  the  unfortunate  fox-catcher  was  leaving  us,  in 


WILD   CATS.  255 

return  for  a  trifling  donation,  he  pressed  upon  me  the 
acceptance  of  a  fine  deer-skin  which  he  produced  from 
his  wallet.  *'  He  had  another  for  the  master,"  he  said. 
"  and  he  would  bring  it  to  him,  when  he  returned  from 
the  hospital." 

"  And  pray,  my  friend,  how  did  you  get  these  skins  ?" 
The  question  puzzled  the  wounded  man.     "  I  found 
them  dead  after  the  great  snow  last  year." 

"  After  a  lump  of  lead,"  quoth  the  otter-killer,  "  had 
made  a  fracture  in  the  hide  ;  "  and  he  pointed  to  the 
orifice  in  the  skin,  where,  evidently,  a  ball  had  per- 
forated. 

''  Alas  !  "  said  the  Priest,  "  the  snow  is  always  fatal 
to  the  red  deer.  They  are  obHged  to  leave  the  upper 
range,  and  come  down  the  villages  :*  and  there  are, 
unluckily,  too  many  of  the  old  French  guns  in  the  country 
still,  and  then  they  are  unfortunately  busy." 

By  the  by,  speaking  of  the  snow,  a  very  curious 
circumstance  occurred,  during  its  long  continuance  in 
1822. 

A  fine  hind,  accompanied  by  a  stout  fawn,  travelled 
across  the  lowlands  in  search  of  pasturage,  which  the 
deep  snow  had  rendered  unattainable  in  the  mountains. 
Pressed  by  the  severity  of  the  weather,  she  at  last 
established  herself  in  a  green  field  which  was  within 
sight  of  the  windows  of  the  Lodge.  For  four  wxeks, 
during  which  the  storm  continued,  she  remained  there 
in  safety  ;  for  the  wild  visitors  were  protected  by  the 
commands  of  "  the  Master  "  :  and  from  being  undis- 
turbed, continued  in  the  place  they  had  first  selected. 

*  By  a  village  a  very  few  houses  are  denomiuated,  and  a  stranger 
would  be  sadly  disappointed  if  he  formed  his  ideas  of  their  extent 
on  the  English  scale. 


256  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

Thinking  that  they  would  be  a  valuable  addition  to 
Lord  Sligo's  park,  my  kinsman  determined  to  have  them 
captured,  and  the  following  Sunday  was  appointed  for 
the  attempt.  This  day  was  selected,  because  the 
number  of  persons  collected  at  the  chapel  would  materially 
assist  the  execution  of  the  plan. 

The  day  came,  and  the  whole  population  of  the  parish 
was  employed.  The  place  was  surrounded  by  a  mul- 
titude of  people,  who  gradually  reduced  their  circle 
until  the  deer  and  fawn  were  completely  enclosed, 
and  a  cordon  of  living  beings  was  formed,  two  deep, 
around  them.  The  hind  had  remarked  the  preparations, 
and  more  than  once  attempted  an  escape  ;  but,  embar- 
rassed by  the  fawn,  her  efforts  were  abortive.  She 
appeared  determined  to  share  its  fate,  and  affection  was 
paramount  to  timidity.  At  last,  when  totally  surrounded, 
her  courage  and  address  were  almost  incredible.  She 
eyed  the  circle  attentively,  made  a  sharp,  peculiar  noise, 
as  if  to  warn  her  offspring  of  its  danger,  then,  charging 
the  ranks  where  they  appeared  weakest,  bounded  over 
the  heads  of  her  opposers  and  escaped.  The  confusion 
occasioned  by  this  extraordinary  proceeding  favoured 
the  deliverance  of  the  fawn,  who,  profiting  by  the 
accident,  galloped  off  unhurt,  and,  with  the  dam,  suc- 
ceeded in  regaining  their  native  wilds. 

The  whole  of  the  dramatis  personce,  with  the  exception 
of  the  otter-killer  and  myself,  have  gone  off  to  fish  some 
three  or  four  lakes,  situate  in  a  hollow  in  the  mountains, 
and  which  are  said  to  be  remarkable  for  the  number 
and  flavour  of  their  trout.  I  have  been  prevented  by 
an  accident  from  accompanying  the  party  ;  and  though 
my  wound  be  "  not  so  deep  as  a  well,  nor  so  wide  as  a 
church-door,"    it   still   renders    me   hors-de-combat.    I 


WILD   CATS. 


257 


blistered,  or  rather  neglected,  a  blistered  heel :  and  the 
fag  of  yesterday  has  so  excoriated  the  surface,  as  to 
make  it  imperative  upon  me  to  lie  by  for  a  little.  Antony 
engages  to  effect  a  perfect  cure  by  to-morrow  ;  and  here 
I  remain  tete-d-tete  with  the  otter-killer. 

The  old  man  proceeded  skilfully  enough  ;  he  lanced 
the  blisters,  and  then  applied  the  cuticle  which  covers 
a  sheep's  kidney,  and  which  is  very  similar  in  appear- 
ance and  effect  to  what  we  call  "  gold-beaters'  leaf." 
This  application  prevented  the  heel  from  being  frayed 
by  the  stocking.  To  the  remainder  of  the  foot  he 
rubbed  a  hot  mixture  of  tallow  and  whisky  ;  and  his 
remedy  was  "  the  sovereignest  thing  on  earth,"  for  in 
twelve  hours  the  cure  was  effected. 

While  he  operated  on  my  infirm  foot,  he  amused  me 
with  one  of  his  interminable  stories.  He  says,  by  the 
"  mother's  side,"  that  I  and  my  cousin  are  descended 
from  a  lady  called  Rose  Roche.  When  his  leech-craft 
was  ended  he  retired  **  to  stretch  upon  the  bed." — ^John 
was  too  deeply  engaged  in  culinary  affairs  to  favour  me 
with  his  company,  and  having  no  resource  besides, 
I  have  been  obliged  to  amuse  myself  by  transcribing 
the  legend  of  Rose  Roche,  and  become  thus  a  chronicler 
of  the  otter-killer. 


2c8  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THE  LEGEND    OF    ROSE  ROCHE. 

At  sixteen  Rose  Roche  was  the  loveUest  maid  in  Ulster. 
In  infancy  she  was  found  exposed  at  the  gate  of  the 
Ursulines,  and  her  beauty  and  destitution  recommended 
her  to  the  charity  of  the  sisterhood.  Educated,  accord- 
ingly, for  a  conventual  life,  she  had  never  passed  the 
boundary  of  the  garden-walls,  and  accident  discovered 
the  existence  of  beauty,  which  else  had  faded  unseen 
and  unadmired  within  those  cloisters,  to  which  from 
childhood  it  had  been  devoted. 

Cormac  More,  Lord  of  Iveagh,  was  the  patron  and 
protector  of  the  community  at  Balleek.  At  primes 
and  vespers  a  mass  was  celebrated  for  his  soul's  weal. 
His  Easter-offering  was  ten  beeves  and  five  casks  of 
Bordeaux  wine  ;  and  on  the  last  Christmas  vigil  he 
presented  six  silver  candlesticks  to  the  altar  of  Our  Lady. 
No  wonder  that  this  powerful  chief  was  held  in  high 
honour  by  the  sisterhood  of  Saint  Ursula. 

One  tempestuous  night  in  October,  wearied  with 
hunting,  and  separated  from  his  followers  by  darkness 
and  the  storm,  Cormac  More  found  himself  beneath  the 
walls  of  the  convent  of  Balleek.  Approaching  the 
gate,  he  wound  his  horn  loudly,  and  begged  for  shelter 
and  refreshment.  Proud  of  this  opportunity  of  affording 
hospitality  to  so  noble  and  munificent  a  protector,  the 
wicket  was  unbarred,  the  Lord  of  Iveagh  admitted,  and 
received  in  honourable  state  by  the  Lady  Superior, 
and  inducted  with  due  form  into  the  parlour  of  the 

Ursulines. 

There  a  plentiful  repast  was  speedily  prepared,  and 


THE   LEGEND   OF   ROSE   ROCHE.  259 

the  tired  hunter  was  ceremoniously  seated  at  the  table. 
His  morning's  meal  had  been  despatched  before  the 
sun  had  topped  Slieve  Galliotiy  and  a  long  day's  exercise 
had  given  him  a  keen  relish  for  the  evening  banquet. 
The  lady  Abbess  feasted  the  patron  of  her  house  right 
nobly — he  was  attended  on  assiduously  by  the  novices — 
dish  after  dish  succeeded  in  luxurious  variety,  until  the 
chief  requested  the  tables  to  be  drawn,  and  with  knightly 
courtesy  entreated  permission  to  pledge  the  holy 
mother  of  the  Ursulines  in  a  deep  draught  of  Rhenish 
wine. 

Then,  for  the  first  time,  the  novice  who  presented  the 
cup  attracted  the  good  knight's  attention.  The  folds 
of  her  thick  veil  could  not  conceal  the  matchless 
symmetry  of  her  form  ;  and,  as  she  filled  the  chalice 
from  the  flagon,  the  exquisite  proportions  of  her  hand 
and  arm  struck  Cormac  More  with  wonder.  At  this 
moment  her  drapery  became  entangled  with  the  jewelled 
pommel  of  the  Knight's  rapier  ;  a  hasty  attempt  to 
disengage  it  was  unsuccessful — the  veil  fell  and  disclosed 
to  the  enraptured  view  of  the  Lord  of  Iveagh  the  loveliest 
features  he  had  ever  seen.  Covered  with  blushes, 
which  heightened  her  surpassing  beauty,  the  novice 
caught  her  veil  hastily  up  and  retired  from  the  parlour, 
while  the  Knight,  despite  the  evident  displeasure  that 
the  accident  had  caused  the  Lady  Abbess,  gazed  after 
the  retiring  girl  until  she  disappeared  among  the  cloisters. 
In  vain  the  proud  Superior  introduced  costlier  wines 
of  rare  and  ancient  vintages  :  in  vain  she  enlarged 
upon  the  piety  of  her  order,  and  enumerated  the  number 
of  the  Ursulines  who  had  been  canonized  * — ^the  Knight's 
whole  thoughts  were  engrossed  with  one  lovely  object 
— ^his  courtesy  and  converse  were  feeble  and  constrained, 


26o  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

until,  piqued  by  his  neglect,  the  Abbess  wished  him  a 
fair  repose,  and  retired  in  full  state  from  the  apartment, 
preceded  by  a  crucifix  and  taper,  and  followed  by  her 
attendant,  nuns. 

Although  the  Knight  lay  upon  the  Bishop's  bed, 
and  occupied  that  honoured  chamber  where  none  of  a 
less  degree  than  a  mitred  abbot  had  hitherto  been  per- 
mitted to  repose,  no  slumber  sealed  his  Uds,  nor  was  the 
beautiful  novice  for  a  moment  absent  from  his  thoughts. 
Cormac  More  had  declined  many  a  splendid  alliance  ; 
the  Lord  of  Offaly  proffered  him  an  only  sister,  with 
a  princely  dower  ;  and  O'Nial  himself  courted  him  for 
a  son-in-law,  and  promised  him  the  barony  of  Orier, 
and  Blanche,  his  fairest  daughter.  But,  till  now, 
Cormac  had  never  loved  :  the  beauteous  cup-bearer 
seemed  to  him  a  being  of  another  world  ;  the  more  he 
dwelt  upon  her  image,  the  more  his  passion  was  excited, 
alliances  with  lords  and  princes  were  overlooked, 
disparity  of  rank  and  fortune  was  forgotten,  and,  ere  the 
morning  sun  had  lighted  the  storied  window  of  the 
Bishop's  chamber,  the  Knight's  determination  was 
formed,  and  matins  were  scarcely  over  when  he  demanded 
an  audience  of  the  Lady  Abbess. 

Never  was  there  greater  surprise  than  that  with  which 
the  holy  mother  heard  Cormac  More  express  his  passion 
for  the  novice  of  the  Ursulines.  Joy  sparkled  in  her 
eyes  as  the  noble  Lord  of  Iveagh  confided  the  secret 
of  his  love,  entreated  her  powerful  intercession,  and 
begged  for  her  sanction  to  his  nuptials.  As  Rose  was 
still  unprofessed,  there  existed  no  spiritual  barrier  to 
her  marriage.  Flattered  by  the  high  honour  conferred 
upon  her  house  by  the  proudest  baron  of  the  Pale 
selecting  a  bride  from  the  holy  sisterhood,  the  Superior 


THE  LEGEND  OF   ROSE   ROCHE.  26 1 

willingly  acceded  to  his  request ;  his  offers  were  accepted, 
and,  ere  the  vesper-bell  had  tolled,  the  preliminaries 
were  completed,  and  the  fair  novice  had  consented  to 
become  the  bride  of  Cormac  More. 

But,  alas  !  the  wild  ardour  of  the  good  Knight,  and 
the  carnal  motives  of  the  Abbess,  caused  both  to  neglect 
consulting  another  personage,  namely,  the  blessed 
Ursula  herself,  in  thus  disposing  of  one  devoted  to  her 
service  from  the  cradle  ;  and  the  Saint  felt  the  over- 
sight. That  night  the  Abbess  was  tormented  with 
fearful  and  portentous  dreams  ;  the  Lord  of  Iveagh 
tossed  restlessly  upon  the  Bishop's  bed  ;  and,  if  the  novice 
closed  an  eye,  her  slumbers  were  broken  with  strange 
and  incoherent  visions.  In  vain,  next  day,  the  Knight 
hunted  from  sunrise  to  curfew — his  hounds  were  eternally 
at  fault,  and  his  followers  appeared  besotted  or  bewitched  ; 
the  deer,  when  pressed  to  the  utmost,  vanished  on  the 
bare  moor  ;  and  knight,  squire,  and  yeoman  unani- 
mously agreed  that  the  several  parties  interested  in  the 
chase  were  under  the  immediate  influence  of  the  Prince 
of  Darkness. 

Nor  did  the  holy  Superior  of  the  Ursulines  fare  better 
than  the  persecuted  Knight  and  his  afflicted  com- 
panions. Everything  about  the  convent  went  astray,  and 
the  culinary  preparations  for  entertaining  the  Lord  of 
Iveagh  were  awfully  interrupted  by  accident  and  for- 
getfulness.  The  sister  who  presided  over  the  pastry, 
and  whose  conserves,  throughout  a  long  and  blameless 
life,  had  been  pronounced  unique  and  irreproachable, 
now  actually  omitted  the  necessary  ingredients  ;  the 
soup,  when  uncovered  for  a  second,  was  invaded  with 
such  a  discharge  of  soot,  as  reduced  it,  in  colour,  at  least 
to  an  equality  with  the  broth  of  Sparta      The  nun   at 


262  WILD  SPORTS  OF   THE   WEST 

the  organ,  instead  of  a  "  jubilate,''  struck  up  a  **  nunc 
dimittis  ;  "  the  very  bells  were  "  jangled  out  of  tune  ;  '* 
and  the  Lady  Abbess  was  horrified  by  a  succession  of 
prodigies  that,  from  her  novitiate  to  her  promotion, 
had  never  before  visited  the  quiet  residence  of  the 
sisterhood  of  Saint  Ursula. 

What  were  the  nocturnal  visitations  inflicted  upon 
the  lovely  novice  have  not  been  exactly  handed  down. 
One  thing  alone  is  certain, — she  visited  the  Lady  Abbess 
with  the  first  dawn,  and  in  her  maternal  bosom  the  bride 
elect  deposited  the  causes  of  her  sorrow. 

In  this  perplexity,  the  Knight  and  the  Superior  held 
secret  counsel  in  the  parlour  of  the  convent,  and  long 
and  difficult  was  the  conference.  The  result  was, 
that  Cormac  More  vowed  a  golden  chalice  to  the  offended 
virgin  ;  and  the  Abbess,  not  to  be  outdone  in  Uberality, 
agreed  to  double  aves  and  credos  for  a  fortnight.  But 
with  Rose  Roche  herself  the  chief  difficulty  was  found 
to  lie.  All  measures  proposed  by  the  holy  mother 
were  inefficacious  ;  and,  in  this  desperate  dilemma, 
it  was  deemed  advisable  to  add  to  the  number  of  coun- 
sellors, and  the  Prior  of  the  Dominicans  was  summoned 
to  the  assistance  of  the  conclave. 

To  that  holy  man  the  exigencies  of  the  respective 
parties  were  intrusted.  The  Prior  was  sorely  disturbed 
with  doubts,  but  after  a  night's  deliberation,  during 
which  he  discussed  a  capon  single-handed,  and  fortified 
his  stomach  with  a  second  scoup  of  Rhenish  wine,  he 
decided  that  the  Lord  of  Iveagh  should  add  a  flagon  to 
the  chalice  ;  the  Abbess  should  double  her  peniten- 
tiaries for  a  month  ;  and  Rose  Roche  undergo  a  private 
penance,  which  he,  the  Prior,  should  communicate  to 
the  lady  alone. 


THE   LEGEND   OF  ROSE  ROCHE,  263 

Never  had  such  an  alarming  predicament  a  happier 
termination !  The  Knight  had  scarcely  laid  himself 
upon  the  Bishop's  bed,  until  3  sweet  and  refreshing 
slumber,  blessed  with  the  happiest  visions,  sealed  his 
eyes  ;  the  Lady  Abbess  slept  like  a  watchman  ;  and, 
since  she  had  first  gathered  wild-flowers  in  the  convent 
garden,  never  did  the  fair  novice  enjoy  more  delightful 
dreams  ! 

At  last  the  bridal  day  arrived.  The  Lord  of  Iveagh 
was  attended  by  a  splendid  following.  The  bells  rang 
out  a  joyous  peal,  and  the  eleve  of  the  UrsuHnes  left  the 
home  of  her  youth,  escorted  by  three  hundred  horse- 
men, the  consort  of  the  proudest  baron  of  the  Pale. 
No  lover  could  be  more  gallant  than  the  noble  husband 
of  Rose  Roche.  Fete  succeeded  fete,  and  feasting 
continued  in  the  castle  of  Cormac  More  from  Michael- 
mas to  Advent. 

Months  passed  away,  and  honeymoons  cannot  be 
expected  to  last  for  ever.  Cormac  More  by  degrees 
resumed  his  hunting,  and  again  involved  himself  in  the 
endless  feuds  and  warfare  of  these  restless  times ; 
and  Rose  Roche  was  often  deserted  for  the  chase  or  the 
field.  She  still  was  passionately  loved ;  but  in  the 
bosom  of  a  martial  baron,  other  and  sterner  feelings 
held  a  predominance.  It  is  true  that  the  young  bride 
bore  these  frequent  absences  with  wonderful  resigna- 
tion ;  and  page  and  tirewoman  confessed  in  secret  that 
Dhu  Castle  was  gayer  and  merrier  when  Cormac  and  his 
stern  companions  were  away. 

A  year  wore  on.  The  Lord  of  Iveagh  was  pensive 
and  thoughtful  ;  a  cloud  would  often  gather  on  his  brow, 
and  his  bearing  to  his  beautiful  wife  became  chilling 
and   repulsive.     It   transpired   that   two   circumstances 


264  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

occasioned  his  anxiety.  His  lady  wore  a  curious- 
fashioned  coif,  which  concealed  her  tresses  as  effectually 
as  if  she  never  laid  aside  her  night-cap  ;  and  the  cherished 
hope  of  an  heir  to  his  ancient  line  now  faded  in  the 
heart  of  Cormac  More.  Dhu  Castle  became  duller 
and  more  gloomy — ^the  fair  Baroness  was  more  and  more 
deserted — ^the  chase  and  banquet  were  preferred  by  the 
moody  Knight  to  soft  dalliance  in  his  "  lady's  bower," — 
and  any  pretext  was  gladly  resorted  to  which  offered 
an  excuse  for  being  absent  from  his  joyless  home. 

Gentlewomen,  in  these  perilous  days,  acquired  and 
possessed  an  astonishing  portion  of  philosophy.  No 
baron's  lady  "  in  the  Pale"*  submitted  to  a  frequent 
separation  from  her  lord  with  more  laudable  submission 
than  Rose  Roche.  The  customary  resource  of  "  wives 
bereaved  "  appeared  anything  but  consolatory  to  the 
dame.  She  determined  to  avoid  crying,  as  being  an 
un- Christian  waste  of  beauty — and,  instead  of  useless 
lamentations,  she  wisely  substituted  mirth  and 
minstrelsy. 

There  was  not  a  more  accomplished  bard  in  Ulster 
than  Connor  O'Cahan,  and  for  seventy  years  he  had 
resided  with  the  Lords  of  Iveagh.  No  tale  or  tradition 
connected  with  this  puissant  race  was  unknown  to 
this  gifted  minstrel :  yet,  by  some  strange  infirmity  of 
taste,  young  Rose  preferred  the  light  romances  of  her 
lord's  English  page  to  all  the  legendary  lore  of  the 
grey-haired   harper ;    and   listened   with   more   delight 

*  The  Pale  was  the  line  of  demarcation  drawn  by  the  English 
settlers  between  their  acquired  possessions  and  the  remoter  districts, 
which  were  still  permitted  to  remain  with  the  ancient  proprietors. 
As  this  boundary  was  the  "  debatable  land  "  of  Ireland,  it  was  the 
scene  of  constant  raid  and  skirmish  ;  and  the  locale  of  many  a  wild 
tradition  is  placed  beside  this  dangerous  border. 


THE   LEGEND   OF    ROSE   ROCHE.  265 

to  a  merry  roundelay  from  Edwin's  lute  than  to  the  deeds 
of  Cormac's  grandfather,  as  set  out  in  song  by  Connor 
O'Cahan.  The  bard,  it  is  true,  was  blind,  and  the  page 
had  the  blackest  eyes  imaginable. 

This  unhappy  predilection  was  not  concealed  from  her 
lord.  His  jealousy  instantly  took  fire,  and  the  handsome 
page  was  suddenly  removed,  and  none  knew  whither. 
The  absence  of  an  heir  had  now  become  matter  for 
serious  complaint :  it  was  whispered  among  the  Baron's 
followers  that  there  was  no  cause  for  hope,  and  malici- 
ously insinuated,  moreover,  that  the  close  coif  adopted 
by  the  dame  was  worn  to  conceal  some  natural  deformity, 
Cormac,  a  slave  to  suspicion,  and  instigated  by  his  rude 
companions,  insisted  that  the  hood  should  be  discarded, 
or  that  Rose  Roche  should  retire  in  disgrace  to  the 
convent  from  whence  she  came. 

On  the  alternative  being  proposed,  the  lady  proved 
positive,  and  the  coif  was  peremptorily  retained. 
Cormac,  irritated  by  opposition  to  his  commands, 
was  obstinate  in  his  determination,  and  Rose  Roche 
left  the  Castle  of  her  lord  a  repudiated  wife,  and  once 
more  returned  to  the  convent  of  the  Ursulines. 

From  the  hour  of  their  separation,  the  Baron  seldom 
smiled.  To  part  from  his  wife  was  a  trifle  ;  but, 
unluckily,  he  had  embroiled  himself  with  the  church. 
The  Abbess  espoused  the  lady's  quarrel  fiercely,  and 
ave  and  credo  were  no  longer  offered  up  for  Cormac 
More  !  Notwithstanding  past  largess,  beeves  and  wine- 
butts  were  forgotten  ;  the  candlesticks  upon  the  altar 
no  longer  elicited  a  prayer  ;  and  his  soul's  health  was 
no  more  attended  to  by  the  community  than  the  lowest 
horse-boys  of  his  train. 

Thus  matters  stood,  when  one  dark  evening,  returning 


266  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

from  the  chase,  Cormac  and  his  followers  were  surprised 
by  a  band  of  Catterans,  and  a  fierce  and  desperate 
skirmish  ensued.  The  outlaws  were  defeated,  but  the 
Lord  of  Iveagh  was  shot  clean  through  the  body  with 
a  three-foot  arrow :  and  how  could  he  have  better 
luck? 

Then  it  was  that  the  sinful  Knight  was  tortured  with 
remorse   and   unavailing   sorrow.     He   cursed   the   evil 
counsellors  who  tempted  him  to  insult   Saint   Ursula 
and    her    adopted    daughter,    and,    determining   to    be 
reconciled  to  his  wife  and  the  church  together,  directed 
his  followers  to  carry  him  to  the  Abbey  of  Balleek.     His 
orders  were  obeyed,  and  the  Lady  Abbess  consented 
to   admit   the   dying   noble.     He   was   laid   before   the 
altar,  and  his  injured  wife,  forgetting  past  resentment, 
was  the  first  to  rush  from  her  cell,  and  minister  to  his 
relief.     In  the  fatal  emergency,  coif  and  veil  were  left 
behind  ;    her   raven   tresses   fell   below   her  shoulders, 
and  reached  to  her  very  waist,  and  Cormac  was  con- 
vinced too  late   that  his  ill-used  consort  had  the  finest 
hair  in  Christendom.     Alas  !   those  ebon  locks  had  been 
the  admiration  of  the  whole  sisterhood  ;   and,  for  pene- 
tential  purposes,  the  Dominican  had  enjoined  their  con- 
cealment for  three  years,  when  he  gave  spiritual  counsel, 
in  their  hour  of  tribulation,  to  the  Abbess,  the  Baron, 
and  Rose  Roche. 

To  make  atonement  for  his  former  unkindness,  he  " 
willed  his  rich  domains  to  his  beautiful  widow.  The 
Prior  of  the  Dominicans  indicted  the  deed,  which  dis- 
posed of  his  possessions  ;  and  the  church,  of  course, 
was  not  forgotten.  Surrounded  by  all  the  emblems  of 
religion,  and  with  a  splinter  of  the  true  cross  in  his 
right  hand,  the  penitent  Baron  breathed  his  last.     He 


THE   LEGEND   OF   ROSE   ROCHE.  267 

lay  for  three  days  and  nights  in  the  chancel,  in  great 
state  ;  and  was  interred  on  the  fourth  morning,  with  all 
the  ceremonies  that  both  Ursulines  and  Dominicans 
could  bestow. 

The   days   of  mourning   passed   over  :     Rose   Roche 
exercised  her  resignation  ;    and   Dhu  Castle  became  a 
different  place  to  what  it  had  been  during  the  latter  days 
of  the  defunct  Baron,  and  mirth  and  music  were  ex- 
changed for  the  rude  revelry  of  Cormac   More.     Her 
hall  was  filled  with  guests  ;    at  the  board  she  did  the 
honours  nobly  ;    and  when  she  visited  the  green  wood, 
with   her   gold-belled    hawks   and   gallant   retinue,   she 
looked  as  if  she  had  been  ennobled  from  the  Conquest, 
and  in  bearing  and  attire  seemed  "  every  inch  a  queen." 
But  amid  all  this  splendour  and  magnificence,  poor 
Rose  had  her  own  secret  causes  of  inquietude.     Beauty, 
accompanied   by    broad   lands,   could    not   but   induce 
suitors   without   number  to  come  forward,   and   never 
was    woman,    not    excepting    Penelope    herself,    more 
vigorously  besieged.     From  past  experience.  Rose  was 
not  ambitious  to  exchange  wealth  and  liberty  for  becoming 
the  wife  of  some  doughty  baron,  who  would  probably 
undervalue  her  charms,  just  as  much  as  he  would  over- 
estimate  his    own    great   condescension   in   giving   her 
his   name.     A   tender   recollection   of  one,   long   since 
lost,  would  cross  her  mind  occasionally  ;    and  in  her 
solitary  hours  the  black-eyed  page  haunted  her  imagina- 
tion.    Accordingly,  she  eschewed  all  offers  for  her  hand, 
with    excellent    discretion.     Few    were    offended,    she 
managed  her  rejections  so  prudently  :    and  through  the 
first  year  of  widowhood  neither  lands  nor  liberty  were 
lost. 
The  consort  of  the  wise  Ulysses  herself  could  not 


268  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

have  held  out  forever.  Rose  was  severely  pressed ; 
for,  finding  themselves  foiled  by  her  ready  wit  and  good 
discretion,  when  they  attacked  her  singly,  her  lovers, 
from  necessity,  agreed  to  coalesce,  and  determined  that 
one  should  be  accepted,  and  the  remainder  be  pledged 
to  support  the  acquired  rights  of  the  fortunate  candi- 
date, as  report  said  King  Henry  had  resolved  to  gift 
a  favourite  noble  with  the  person  and  estates  of  the 
beautiful  widow. 

This  agreement  of  her  suitors  was  politely  but  decisively 
intimated  to  Rose  Roche,  and  the  Prior  declared,  "  by 
the  vestment,"  that  to  evade  matrimony  longer  was 
impossible.  "  She  had,"  the  holy  man  said,  "  an  ample 
list  to  choose  from  ;  there  were  eleven  suitors  in  the 
neighbourhood,  besides  the  Big  Man  of  the  Westy" 
for  so  the  Thane  of  Connaught  was  entitled. 

In  this  extremity,  the  lady  resolved  to  exercise,  at 
least,  the  privilege  of  free  choice.  The  Prior  was 
directed  to  engross  a  bond,  by  which  the  respective 
candidates  for  her  hand  bound  themselves  to  grant 
an  uncontrolled  right  of  selection  to  the  widow,  and 
covenanted,  moreover,  neither  to  molest,  nor  permit 
her  to  be  molested,  when  her  choice  was  made.  The 
deed  was  duly  executed — ^the  day  for  her  decision  was 
named — and  a  reasonable  time  allowed  for  "  the  Big 
Man  of  the  West  "  to  attend  and  try  his  fortune. 

O'Connor  was  surprised  when  the  determination  of 
the  fair  widow  was  communicated.  He  had  only  time 
for  a  hurried  preparation,  as  his  rivals,  from  their  vicinity 
to  the  lady,  had  never  taken  the  remoter  situation  of 
"  the  Big  Man  "  into  their  consideration,  when  they 
named  the  day.  O'Connor,  however,  was  no  sluggard  ; 
he  collected  his  *'  following  "  with  all  haste,  and  every 


THE   LEGEND   OF   ROSE   ROCHE.  269 

department  was  complete,  when,  alas  !  the  chief  harper 
fell  sick  without  a  cause,  and  no  other  was  procurable 
for  a  distance  of  sixty  miles.  In  this  dilemma  a  Saxon 
youth,  who  two  years  since  had  been  shipwrecked 
beneath  the  castle  walls,  was  recollected.  He  could  not, 
it  is  true,  "  strike  the  bold  harp,"  but  he  had  a  sweet  and 
mellow  voice,  and  his  skill  upon  the  lute  was  admirable. 
In  wordcraft  he  was  a  thorough  proficient,  and  with 
lance  and  brand  had  more  than  once  proved  himself 
a  man.  O^Connor  had  no  alternative,  and  the  stranger 
was  selected  to  fill  a  place  that  '*  Cathwold  O'Connor 
of  the  harp  "  should  have  more  worthily  occupied. 

Although  the  Thane  of  Connaught  and  his  gallant 
company  pushed  forward  with  all  the  speed  that  man  and 
horse  could  make,  from  bad  roads  and  flooded  rivers, 
they  were  unable  to  reach  the  heights  above  Dhu 
Castle  until  the  sun  of  the  eventful  day  had  set.  In 
vain  knight  and  squire  pressed  on  their  jaded  steeds — 
evening  fell ;  all  the  candidates  besides  had  been  in 
the  hall  for  hours,  and,  as  "  the  Big  Man  "  had  not 
appeared,  according  to  modern  parlance  he  was  voted 
present  by  the  company,  and  the  banquet  was  served. 

Never  vdth  such  heavy  heart  did  Rose  Roche  assume 
the  place  of  honour.  Though  her  hall  was  lighted 
splendidly,  and  her  table  crowded  with  the  proudest 
nobles  within  *'  the  Pale  " — though  rich  wine  flowed, 
and  the  most  skilful  harpers  in  the  province  poured 
forth  their  lays  of  love  and  war — yet  one  heart  was 
heedless  of  gaiety  and  grandeur  ;  and  that  one  was  hers 
on  whom  every  eye  was  bent,  in  deep  expectancy, 
awaiting  her  decision. 

The  curfew  rang — and  in  another  hour  the  happy 
Lord   of   Dhu    Castle   would    be   proclaimed.     As   the 


270  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

moments  flew,  the  beautiful  widow  became  paler  and 
more  dejected  ;  and  breasts  which  had  never  quailed 
amid  the  roar  of  battle,  now  throbbed  as  nervously  as 
a  maiden's,  when  she  listens  to  the  first  tale  of  love. 
The  harps  were  mute,  the  revel  became  less  loud,  for 
all  were  deeply  interested  in  that  event  which  a  brief 
space  must  determine.  At  this  embarrassing  moment, 
a  loud  blast  was  heard  at  the  grand  gate,  and  the  seneschal 
rushed  in,  to  announce  the  arrival  of  the  Thane  of 
Connaught,  attended  by  a  noble  following  of,  at  least, 
one  hundred  horse. 

The  sudden  and  opportune  appearance  of  him  of  the 
West  seemed  to  affect  the  company  variously.  His 
rivals  heard  the  news  with  mingled  feelings  of  jealousy 
and  alarm,  which  was  in  no  way  abated  when  the 
number  of  his  attendants  was  announced,  which  exceeded 
that  of  their  united  folio  wings.  Rose  Roche  felt  a 
secret  pleasure  at  his  coming  ;  not  that  her  sentiments 
towards  O'Connor  were  more  favourable  than  to  her 
suitors  generally,  but  his  late  arrival  must  necessarily 
occasion  some  delay,  and  postpone,  though  but  for  brief 
space,  that  dreaded  moment  when  she  should  surrender  a 
hand,  without  a  heart,  to  her  future  lord. 

While  O'Connor,  as  the  greatest  stranger,  was  placed 
beside  the  lady  of  Dhu  Castle,  his  bard  stood  behind 
his  master,  and  his  train  bestowed  themselves  where 
they  could  best  find  room.  As  Rose  Roche  looked 
carelessly  around  to  see  that  the  band  were  fitly  accom- 
modated, her  eyes  met  those  of  the  young  minstrel : — 
the  blood  rushed  to  her  brow  ;  for,  excepting  those  of 
her  own  loved  page,  she  never  looked  upon  a  pair  so 
black  and  sparkling  as  the  stranger's. 

When  the  Thane  of  Connaught  had  feasted  to  his 


THE   LEGEND   OF   ROSE   ROCHE.  ZJl 

heart*s  content,  the  Prior  of  the  Dominicans  produced 
the  parchment,  to  which  his  rivals  had  affixed  their 
signatures  already.  The  **  Big  Man  "  listened  atten- 
tively as  the  Monk  read  it.  ''  'Tis  all  fair,"  he  said, 
as  he  placed  his  sign  manual  to  the  deed,  **  that  lady 
should  choose  her  lord  ;  and  thus  I  bind  myself,  faith- 
fully to  abide  the  intents  of  this  parchment."  Then 
turning  to  Rose  Roche,  he  thus  proceeded  ;  ''It  grieves 
me  that  through  accident  I  have  unwittingly  occa- 
sioned some  delay  ;  therefore,  in  pity  to  my  gallant 
competitors,  1  beg  you,  lady,  to  terminate  this  suspense, 
and  declare  to  this  noble  company  the  happy  object 
of  your  choice. — Nay,  blanch  not  so,  fair  dame,"  for 
the  lady  became  pallid  as  the  white  marble  of  a  warrior's 
tomb  :  *'  exercise  your  own  pleasure  leisurely  ;  and 
while  I  pledge  thy  matchless  beauty  in  a  cup  of  musca- 
dine, Aylmer,  my  bard,  shall  sing  a  Saxon  roundelay." 
As  he  spoke,  O'Connor  signed  to  the  minstrel,  who, 
rising  at  his  lord's  bidding,  struck  with  a  rapid  hand 
the  prelude  of  a  light  romance,  which,  with  a  tremulous 
but  powerful  voice,  he  thus  gave  words  to  : — 

"  Lady,  farewell  ! — the  fatal  hour 
Has  sped,  for  thus  thy  tyrant  wills, 
When  he,  who  loves  thee,  leaves  this  tower, 
Deserts  gay  hall  and  wood  and  bower 
Of  her,  for  whom  his  heart's  pulse  thrills  ; 
And  thou  art  she — Ladye — sweet  Ladye." 

When  the  minstrel  touched  the  prelude.  Rose  Roche 
became  visibly  affected  ;  but  when  the  words  fell  from 
his  Ups,  a  burning  blush  dyed  her  cheeks  and  brow, 
and  her  heart  throbbed  almost  to  bursting.  Alas,  it 
was  the  very  roundelay  the  poor  page  had  sung  beneath 
her  casement  on  that  melancholy  night  w^hen  her 
defunct  lord  had  expelled  him  from  the  Castle  !     She 


272  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

turned  hastily  round  to  se  who  the  stran  e  youth 
might  be  who  thus  recalled  her  absent  love  in  look  and 
voice  so  forcibly.  Blessed  Ursula  !  it  was  he,  the  long- 
lost  page !  The  minstrel,  as  he  caught  her  eyes, 
suddenly  ceased  his  melody — ^the  lute  fell  from  his 
nerveless  grasp,  and,  overcome  by  feelings  that  could 
not  be  controlled,  he  sank  upon  the  bench  behind  him. 
It  was,  indeed,  young  Aylmer.  The  well-remembered 
features  could  never  be  forgotten,  although  the  boy 
had  ripened  into  manhood — ^the  thick  down  upon  the 
lip  had  changed  to  a  dark  moustache — and  the  belt 
which  once  held  a  hunting  blade  supported  now  a 
goodly  brand. 

The  strange  effect  of  the  melody  upon  the  lady,  and 
the  minstrel's  sudden  indisposition,  could  not  escape 
remark  ;  a  startling  suspicion  flashed  across  the  minds 
of  the  company,  and,  after  a  painful  silence  of  some 
minutes,  Hubert  de  Moore  rose  from  his  seat,  and  bowing 
to  the  very  table,  thus  addressed  the  lady  of  the 
castle : 

"  Wilt  thou  forgive  the  humblest  but  most  devoted 
of  thy  suitors,  if  he  presume  to  remind  you  that  the  hour 
has  long  since  passed  when  your  election  should  have 
been  made  ?  Far  be  it  from  me,  noble  dame,  to  seem 
importunate  ;  but  suspense  is  irksome  to  those  that  love, 
and  I  and  my  brother  nobles  pray  to  you  to  signify  your 
pleasure,  and  end  uncertainty  at  once." 

While  De  Moore  was  speaking.  Rose  Roche  appeared 
to  recover  her  self-possession  wonderfully  ;  her  eye 
brightened,  her  colour  came  again,  and  the  compression 
of  her  Hps  proved  that  she  was  nerving  herself  for  some 
determined  effort.  She  rose  slowly  and  gracefully,  while 
a  dead  silence  pervaded  the  hall  ;    faint  and  tremulous 


THE   LEGEND   OF    ROSE    ROCHE.  273 

as  the  first  words  were,  they  were  distinctly  heard  by 
those  remotest  from  the  dais.* 

"  Noble  lords,"  she  said,  "  I  own  and  thank  your 
courtesy  :  I  ask  this  holy  churchman  if  I  am  to  exercise 
free  choice  in  this  affair,  unshackled  with  bar,  or  con- 
dition, save  my  own  leisure  :  and  if  he  whom  I  shall 
place  here,"  and  she  pointed  to  the  vacant  seat  beside 
her  own,  which  had  been  reserved  for  the  successful 
wooer,  "  shall  be  supported  in  all  the  rights  and 
properties  which  he  shall  obtain  through  me  ?  " 

"  All  this,"  said  the  Prior,  "  is  fairly  stipulated  in  the 
intents  of  this  scroll." 

"  Then  will  I  not  trespass  on  your  patience,  noble 
lords — there  stands  the  object  of  my  choice  ;  and  thus 
do  I  install  him  in  this  seat,  as  lord  and  master  of  Dhu 
Castle  !  " 

She  turned  to  the  astonished  minstrel  as  she  spoke, 
and  ere  her  words  were  ended,  the  youth  was  seated  at 
her  side. 

A  scene  of  wonder  and  wild  confusion  followed — most 
of  the  Barons  protested  loudly  against  her  choice ;  angry 
looks  and  threatening  gestures  were  directed  at  the 
minstrel,  and  more  than  one  sword  was  half  unsheathed. 
O'Connor  seemed  thunderstruck — and  the  lady  herself 
was  the  most  collected  of  the  company. 

"  How  is  this.  Sir  Knights  !  "  she  cried.  "  Is  lordly 
word  and  written  pledge  so  lightly  held  among  you, 
that  thus  ye  violate  their  sanctity  ?  Thane  of  Con- 
naught,"  she  continued,  as  she  addressed  herself  to  the 
*'  Big  Man," — "  thy  faith  was  never  questioned,  and  thy 
word  is  held  to  be  sacred  as  a  martyr's  vow.  When  the 
English  King,  under  pain  of  confiscation,  ordered  thee 

♦  \riie  place  of  honour  in  a  Baronial  Hall. 

T 


274  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

to  deliver  the  stranger  up,  whom  thou  hadst  resetted — 
ahhough  five  hundred  marks  were  upon  his  head,  what 
was  thy  answer  ?  *  The  lands  may  go,  but  plighted 
faith  must  stand  !  *  The  ink  with  which  you  bound 
yourself  to  the  conditions  of  yonder  bond  is  not  yet 
dry  upon  the  parchment,  and  wilt  thou  break  thy  word  ?  " 
"  It  is  a  trick,"  cried  De  Moore. 
"  The  selection  rests  with  ourselves  alone,"  exclaimed 
Mandeville. 

*'  We  will  never  brook  that  page  or  minstrel  should 
hold  the  lands  and  castles  of  Cormac  More,"  said  both 
together  :  and  they  laid  their  hands  upon  their  swords  ; 
the  attendants  followed  the  example  of  their  lords,  and 
a  scene  of  violence  and  discord  was  about  immediately 
to  ensue. 

O'Connor  slowly  rose — he  waved  his  hand  to  command 
silence,  and  his  wishes  were  promptly  obeyed. 

"  This  is,  indeed,  an  unexpected  choice,"  he  said  : 
"  Sir  Prior,  read  thy  parchment  aloud,  that  all  may 
hear,  and  read  it  carefully,  line  after  line,  and 
syllable  by  syllable  :  see  that  a  letter  be  not  omitted." 
The  Monk  obeyed.  "  The  document  is  a  plain  one," 
said  '*  The  Big  Man,"  *'  and  by  it  the  lady  has  good 
right  to  choose  whom  she  listeth  for  her  consort. — 
Lady  of  Iveagh,"  he  continued,  as  he  turned  to  the 
blushing  widow,  "  is  this  youth  the  husband  of  thy 
choice  .'*  " — *'  He,  and  none  besides,  so  help  me  saints 
and  angels  !  "  was  the  solemn  answer.  **  Then,  by 
my  father's  ashes,  and  a  knight's  word  that  never  yet  was 
questioned,  thou,  Aylmer  Mowbray,  shalt  this  night 
possess  thy  bride  !  And  why,  my  lords,  chafe  you  so 
at  this  ?  "  for  the  storm  was  again  about  to  burst  forth  : 
"  Is  it  because  the  monk  was  but  a  sorry  lawyer,  and 


THE   LEGEND   OF   ROSE   ROCHE.  275 

the  lady  took  advantage  of  a  loose  parchment,  which 
should  have  bound  her  better  ?  Is  it  that  the  lord  of 
Dhu  Castle  was  once  a  page  ?  What  was  thy  ancestor, 
De  Moore  (I  mean  not  to  offend  thee),  but  usher  to  the 
Lord  Justice  ?  And  thine,  Mandeville,  but  chamber- 
groom  to  Strongbow  ?  Aylmer,  I  love  thee  too  well 
to  envy  thee  thy  good  fortune  : — thy  lute  has  won  the 
lady — thy  lance  must  keep  her  lands.  Kneel  down, 
minstrel  no  longer — rise  up,  my  own  knight  banneret ! 
And  now.  Lords  of  the  Pale,  Henry  himself  could  not 
confer  a  nobler  dignity  ;  for  O'Connor's  knight  is 
standard-bearer  to  the  King  of  Connaught !  Does 
any  here  gainsay  his  rank  and  dignity  ?  The  sword 
that  conferred  the  honour  is  ready  and  able  to  maintain 
it !  "  And  O'Connor,  as  he  ended,  flung  belt  and  rapier 
on  the  table. 

But  none  seemed  disposed  to  quarrel  with  him  :  and 
gradually  they  followed  his  example,  and  admitted  the 
lady's  right  of  choice.  The  mirth  and  feasting  were 
resumed  ;  and  each,  after  reasoning  with  himself,  finding 
that  the  chances  of  individual ,  success  were  greatly 
against  him,  became  reconciled  to  lose  the  lady  and  her 
lands.  Before  midnight  struck,  the  Prior  performed 
the  marriage  ceremony  ;  and  while  O'Connor  bestowed 
the  beauteous  bride,  De  Moore  himself  attended  upon 
the  fortunate  minstrel. 

Nor  did  Sir  Aylmer  Mowbray  disappoint  his  patron's 
expectation.  As  his  lute  was  sweetest  in  the  bower,  his 
plume  was  foremost  in  the  field.  He  held  the  posses- 
sions he  gained  by  his  lady  against  every  claimant  ; 
sons  and  daughters  blessed  his  bed,  and  transmitted 
his  titles  and  estates  to  posterity  :  and  thus,  more  than 
one  powerful  house  traces  its  lineage  back  to  an  "  eleve  " 
of  the  Ursulines  and  the  black-eyed  Page, 


276  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 


CHAPTER  XXXIL 

The  fishing  party  had  been  successful,  and  returned 
late  in  the  evening  with  two  baskets  of  trout,  which, 
although  of  small  size,  were  remarkable  for  beautiful 
shape  and  excellent  flavour. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  loughs  where  the  party 
angled,  though  situate  in  the  same  valley,  and  divided 
only  by  a  strip  of  moorland  not  above  fifty  yards  across, 
united  by  the  same  rivulet,  and  in  depth  and  soil  at 
bottom,  to  all  appearance,  precisely  similar,  should 
produce  fish  as  different  from  each  other  as  it  is  possible 
for  those  of  the  same  species  to  be.  In  the  centre  lake 
the  trout  are  dull,  ill-shapen,  and  dark-coloured  ;  the 
head  large,  the  body  lank,  and,  though  of  double  size, 
compared  to  their  neighbours,  are  killed  with  much 
less  opposition.  In  the  adjacent  loughs,  their  hue  is 
golden  and  pellucid,  tinted  with  spots  of  a  brilliant 
vermilion.  The  scales  are  bright,  the  head  small, 
the  shoulder  thick,  and  from  their  compact  shape,  they 
prove  themselves,  when  hooked,  both  active  and  vigorous. 
At  table  they  are  red  and  firm,  and  their  flavour  is 
particularly  fine — while  the  dark  trout  are  white  and 
flaccid,  and  have  the  same  insipidity  of  flavour  which 
distinguishes  a  spent  from  a  healthy  salmon.  The 
red  trout  seldom  exceed  a  herring-size,  and  in  looking 
through  the  contents  of  the  baskets,  which  amounted 
to  at  least  twelve  dozen,  I  could  only  find  two  fish  which 
weighed  above  a  pound. 

The  dark  trout,  however,  from  their  superior  size, 
are    more    sought    after    by   the    mountain    fishermen. 


DISTILLATION.  277 

They  rarely  are  taken  of  a  smaller  weight  than  a  pound, 
and  sometimes  have  been  killed,  and  particularly  with 
a  worm,  or  on  a  night-line,  of  a  size  little  inferior  to  that 
of  a  moderate  salmon. 

The  fishing  party  determined  that  Antony's  account 
of  the  otters  being  very  numerous  about  those  lakes 
was  perfectly  correct.  Their  paths  between  the  waters 
were  much  beaten,  and  the  spraints  of  the  animal 
fresh  and  frequent. 

There  is  a  lake  still  farther  up  the  mountains,  and  some 
hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  these  loughs,  which 
produces  trout  not  more  remarkable  for  size  than  for 
their  peculiarity  in  never  rising  at  a  fly,  or  taking  a  bait ; 
and  yet  they  are  frequently  observed  by  the  herdsmen 
who  frequent  the  valley  where  the  lake  is  situated, 
rising  over  the  water,  or,  to  use  their  own  phrase, 
**  tumbling  about  like  dogs."  From  the  known  attach- 
ment of  the  lower  classes  of  this  country  to  indulge 
in  "  the  wild  and  wonderful,"  their  size  or  existence 
might  be  doubtful,  were  it  not  that  they  run  like  eels 
in  the  latter  part  of  a  harvest,  and  at  that  season  are 
taken,  after  a  flood,  in  the  pools  of  the  little  river, 
which  communicates  directly  with  the  lake.  These 
trout  have  been  found  to  weigh  upwards  of  twelve 
pounds,  and  are  said  to  be  in  shape  and  colour  like  large 
gillaroos,  and  of  superior  flavour  when  brought  to  table. 

The  otter-killer  declares  that  he  fished  this  lake 
repeatedly,  and  while  he  exhausted  all  his  piscatory 
skill,  he  never  could  induce  a  trout  to  rise.  He  recol- 
lects, however,  hearing  "  when  a  boy,"  that  there  was 
formerly  an  old  man  who  resided  contiguous  to  the  lake, 
who  caught  trout  most  plentifully  near  the  centre  of  the 
water,  by  floating  lines  across  it,  their  ends  being  attached 


278  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

to  the  legs  of  geese  ;  but  he  admits  his  belief  that  this 
was  but  a  popular  conceit,  and  wisely  comes  to  a  con- 
clusion, *'  that  there  is  a  sea-horse,  or  some  such  devil 
in  the  lough,  which  prevents  the  fish  from  taking 
fly  or  worm."  In  the  neighbourhood  of  Minola  there 
is  a  lake  called  Carramore,  where  the  trout  are  said  to 
be  equally  large,  and  in  refusing  baits  and  flies  equally 
refractory.  I  have  never  fished  the  water,  or  seen  the 
trout ;  but  they  are  taken  during  harvest  floods,  in 
a  mill-race,  which  runs  directly  from  the  lough  ;  their 
size  is  from  four  to  ten  pounds. 

Three  days  have  passed,  and  the  weather  has  been  wet 
and  boisterous.  The  moors  have  become  soft,  and  are 
now  very  distressing  to  traverse.  The  grouse  have 
deserted  their  customary  haunts,  are  found  with 
difficulty,  and  from  their  wildness,  will  hardly  stand 
the  dogs.  Winter  is  fast  approaching,  and  the  time  is 
close  at  hand  when  the  cabin  must  be  abandoned  for 
the  more  substantial  comforts  of  the  Lodge. 

And  I  shall  leave  this  hut  and  these  hills  with  sincere 
regret.  Palled  with  the  pleasures  of  the  world,  I  found 
here  that  rude,  but  real  happiness,  which  for  years 
before  I  had  sought  in  vain.  Here  I  associated  with 
a  new  order  of  beings.  I  compared  them  with  the 
artificial  society  I  had  consorted  with,  and  found  among 
them  some  traces  of  natural  virtues,  which  ultra  civili- 
zation has  banished  from  the  rest  of  mankind.  There' 
may  be  here,  no  doubt,  much  ignorance  and  super- 
stition to  be  regretted,  and  false  opinions  and  falser 
modes  of  action  to  be  corrected — but  even  for  their 
vices  I  can  find  an  apology,  and  their  worst  crimes  will 
appear,  upon  examination,  to  be  either  consequent 
upon  moral  neglect,  or  arising  from  rude  and  barbarous 


DISTILLATION.  279 

notions  of  what  appears  to  them  nothing  but  retributive 
justice. 

The  grave  offences  with  which  these  wild  people  are 
principally  charged  appear  to  be  abduction  and  murder  ; 
and  both  are  of  frequent  recurrence.  The  first,  indeed, 
is  so  prevalent,  that  any  lady  bent  upon  celibacy  had  better 
avoid  Ballycroy,  and  particularly  so  if  she  has  obtained 
the  reputation  of  being  opulent.  This  crime,  however, 
is  seldom  of  a  dark  character,  and  is  generally  traceable 
to  local  causes,  and  the  very  unceremonious  mode 
in  which  parents  conclude  matches  between  their  chil- 
dren without  consulting  the  inclinations  of  the  parties 
most  concerned  in  the  affair.  Probably  the  whole 
matter  is  arranged  between  the  fathers  during  an  acci- 
dental meeting  at  a  fair,  or  likelier  yet,  over  an  egg-shell^ 
drinking-bout  in  a  poteen-house.  The  due  propor- 
tions of  cattle  and  dry-money'\  which  are  to  be  given  and 
received  are  regularly  specified  ;  and  the  youthful 
couple  who  are  to  be  united  by  the  silken  bond  of 
Hymen  are  first  acquainted  with  their  purposed  happi- 
ness after  the  priest  has  been  sent  for  to  solemnise  the 
nuptials.  No  wonder,  therefore,  if  the  lady  have 
another  liaison,  that  she  intimates  her  feelings  to  the 
fortunate  man.  He  finds  no  difficulty  in  enlisting  a 
sufficient  number  of  his  faction  to  *'  hoist  away  "  the 
intended  bride,  and  carry  her  to  some  distant  hill  or 
island.  Then  a  wonderful  series  of  bargain-making 
commences  :  upon  the  lady's  side  it  being  insisted  that 
the    abductor    shall    forthwith    make    her    ''  an    honest 


*  It  may  be  easily  imagined  that  glass  is  a  scarce  article  in  Bally- 
croy. Accordingly,  in  the  still  and  drinking  houses,  an  egg-shell 
is  used  as  a  substitute. 

t  "  Dry  money  "  is  synonymous  with  "  hard  cash." 


28o  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

woman : "  while  the  gallant  usually  demurs  to  the 
"  amende  honorable,'^  until  the  "  consideration "  for 
doing  the  same  is  propounded  and  guaranteed.  Now 
it  is  that  the  priest  engages  deeply  in  the  negotiation. 
He  assumes  the  first  place  in  the  corps  diplomatique^ 
and  becomes  prime  minister.  In  the  conduct  of  the 
affair,  no  doubt,  himself  is  interested  ;  he  is  anxious 
to  effect  hymeneals,  for  hence  arises  his  principal  revenue, 
and  matrimony  is  the  best  feather  in  his  wing — and, 
independent  of  the  nuptial  fee,  contingent  christenings 
and  increased  house-money^  are  in  prospective.  But 
the  lover  has  it  all  his  own  way.  A  week's  residence 
in  the  mountains  has  perilled  the  lady's  reputation 
beyond  recovery  ;  as  she  has  gotten  a  blast,  her  matri- 
monial market  is  spoiled,  and  nothing  remains  but  an 
amicable  arrangement.  Terms  are  accordingly  made — 
the  parties  become  one  flesh — the  priest  is  considered 
for  his  great  and  valuable  services  by  "  both  the  houses," 
and  "  one  raal  rookawn  of  a  runaway  match  "  is  better 
to  his  reverence  than  thrice  the  number  of  weddings 
perpetrated  by  general  consent. 

This  milder  class  of  abduction  is,  unfortunately,  not 
the  only  one  ;  girls  having  property,  or  who  are  likely 
to  possess  it,  are  oftentimes  forcibly  carried  off. 
Secreted  in  the  mountains,  they  are  not  easily  recover- 
able by  their  friends,  and  left  at  the  mercy  of  the  ruffian 
and  his  confederates,  they  are  at  last  obliged  to  become' 
the  legal  property  of  the  despoiler.  As  the  abductor 
is  generally  some   idle,  dissipated  blackguard,  the  fate 

*  The  revenues  of  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  are  derived  from 
certain  fees  payable  for  marriages  and  christenings,  with  an  annual 
tax  of  two  shillings  upon  every  house  in  the  parish.  These,  with 
Christmas  and  Easter  offerings,  presents,  and  legacies,  amount,  in 
populous  parishes,  to  a  very  considerable  sum. 


DISTILLATION.  28 1 

of  the  ill-starred  being  who  is  united  to  him  under  such 
circumstances  for  life  is  truly  lamentable. 

The  second  and  worst  description  of  crime,  of  which 
this  remote  district  unhappily  affords  too  many  instances, 
is  murder.  Many  circumstances  tend  to  encourage  it. 
The  system  of  clanship,  and  the  imperfect  administra- 
tion of  the  laws,  are  chief  causes.  A  strange  infatua- 
tion prevents  these  people  from  surrendering  a  culprit ; 
and  to  conceal  or  abet  the  escape  of  a  criminal  from 
punishment  is  felt  to  be  a  sort  of  moral  obligat'on 
not  to  be  got  over.  Hence,  the  feudal  system  prevails 
in  Ballycroy  of  repaying  injury  by  injury !  rather 
than  submit  the  offender  to  the  ordinary  course  of 
justice  ;  violences  committed  by  one  faction  are  fear- 
fully returned  by  the  other  ;  and  in  a  country  where 
a  dent  spirits  are  easily  procured,  and  where  ancient 
customs  and  the  endless  number  of  holy  days  enjoined 
by  the  Church  of  Rome  bring  the  parties  into  frequent 
collision,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  disastrous  consequences 
ensue.  Maddened  by  whisky,  the  nationa-  pugnacity 
bursts  forth,  old  injuries  are  remembered,  the  worst 
passions  are  called  into  action,  and  loss  of  life  is  too 
commonly   he  result. 

That  any  conipetent  moral  remedy  can  be  employed 
to  check  these  barbarisms  is  hopeless,  while  the  present 
destructive  system  of  private  distillation  is  encouraged 
by  the  landlord  and  abetted  by  the  revenue.  The 
landlord  is  the  chief  delinquent — ^for,  owing  to  abomin- 
able jobbing,  the  monies  taken  from  the  pubHc  purse, 
and  intended  to  open  a  communication  between  this 
wild  country  and  the  more  inhabited  districts,  have  been 
scandalously  malversated,  and  lavished  upon  useless 
works,  merely  to  reward  favouritism,  or  benefit  agents 


282  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

and  dependents.  No  serviceable  attempts  have  been  made 
to  facilitate  the  transport  of  grain  from  the  mountains 
to  those  towns  from  whence  it  could  be  sent  abroad  ; 
and  hence,  the  only  markets  which  could  be  legitimately 
and  beneficially  resorted  to  by  the  peasantry  are,  from 
want  of  means  of  egress  from  the  highlands,  embargoed 
to  these  hapless  people.  Left  to  their  own  resources, 
what  can  this  wretched  population  do  .?  At  the  mercy 
of  hireling  drivers  and  cold-hearted  agents,  they  are 
required  on  a  given  day  to  produce  the  rent — ^honestly 
if  they  can — but  to  produce  it.  To  convey  their  miser- 
able grain  crop  to  a  distant  market  would  greatly  abate 
the  amount  of  the  sale,  by  the  expense  and  difficulty 
attendant  upon  the  carriage.  An  easier  mode  of  dis- 
posing of  it  is  presented.  The  still  is  substituted  for 
the  market ;  and  hence,  three  parts  of  the  corn  grown 
in  these  bogs  and  hills  are  converted  into  whisky. 

At  first  sight,  the  advantages  of  private  distillation 
appear  immense.  The  grain  will  realise  nearly  three 
times  the  price  that  it  would  have  produced  if  sold  for 
exportation  ;  but  when  the  demoralisation,  and  waste, 
and  ulterior  risk  are  considered,  the  imaginary  profits 
are  far  overbalanced  by  the  certain  or  contingent  losses 
which  attend  it. 

From  the  moment  that  the  grain  is  first  wetted  to  the 
time  the  spirit  has  been  doubled^  the  ordinary  habits  of 
the  peasant  are  interrupted.  Night  and  day  he  must 
be  on  the  alert — and  if  there  were  no  greater  penalty 
beyond  the  unbidden  visits  of  every  idle  blackguard 
who  drops  in  to  taste  the  *'  barley  bree,"  it  would  be 
a  sufficient  punishment  for  the  offence.  But  this  is  the 
smallest  tax  upon  the  produce  of  the  still ;  when  the 
process  is  complete,  much  of  the  produce  is  expended 


DISTILLATION.  283 

in  drunken  hospitality.  If,  after  all  these  drawbacks, 
the  residue  be  disposed  of  in  the  town,  or  sold  to  some 
itinerant  whisky-dealer,  the  adventure  is  prosperous  ; 
but  the  chances  of  detection,  seizure,  fine  and  imprison- 
ment are  so  multitudinous  as  to  render  the  vending 
of  this  pernicious  article  a  ruinous  trade.  To  succeed 
encourages  him  to  continue  in  this  hazardous  manu- 
facture ;  and  then  upon  him  who  night  and  day  parches 
in  a  still-house,  certain  drunkenness  is  entailed,  with 
sooner  or  later  a  loss  of  property,  from  the  casualties 
incident  to  the  adventure ;  and  hence,  more  people 
have  been  beggared  by  this  demoralising  traffic  than  all 
the  misfortunes  which  bad  seasons,  bad  crops,  and  worse 
still,  bad  landlords  could  accomplish. 

Difficult  as  the  task  is  found  of  conveying  grain 
from  the  highlands,  the  denizens  of  the  coast  possess 
little  advantage  from  their  own  locality.  Want  of 
harbours  renders  the  voyage  hazardous,  and  the  arrival 
of  the  grain  at  market  an  uncertainty  ;  and  many  a 
peasant,  from  rough  seas  and  contrary  winds,  has  been 
ruined.  One  instance  of  this  was  mentioned,  and 
it  so  forcibly  exemplifies  the  misfortune,  that  I  shall 
transcribe  it. 

A  person  of  comfortable  means,  having  suffered 
severe  loss  from  private  distillation,  determined  that  he 
would  never  '*  wet  a  grain  during  his  natural  life."  He 
shipped  his  corn  accordingly  in  a  hooker  for  Westport, 
it  being  the  nearest  place  where  a  purchaser  could  be 
found.  Bad  weather  and  contrary  winds  came  on,  and 
during  eight  days,  for  so  much  time  was  occupied  in  the 
passage,  the  grain  was  exposed  to  rain  and  spray  eter- 
nally, and  when  it  reached  its  destination,  was  found 
to  be  so  much  damaged  as  to  be  rendered  unfit  for  sale. 


284  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

The  unlucky  owner  was  eventually  obliged  to  bring  it 
back,  and  in  self-defence  to  malt  and  distil  it.  The 
process  was  completed,  and  the  spirits  safely  brought 
to  the  town  of  Castlebar.  There  it  was  seized  by  the 
revenue,  the  proprietor  imprisoned  for  four  months, 
and  his  cattle  and  furniture  at  home  canted  to  pay  that 
rent,  which  the  corn,  had  it  been  marketable,  would 
have  more  than  realized.  By  this  accumulation  of 
misfortune,  the  unhappy  man  was  reduced  to  the  greatest 
misery,  and  from  having  been  once  an  opulent  land- 
holder, he  is  at  this  moment  a  cottier  upon  what  was 
formerly  his  farm,  with  nothing  to  support  a  wife  and 
seven  children  but  a  limited  potato-garden,  and  occa- 
sionally sixpence  a  day,  when  he  is  lucky  enough  to  obtain 
employment  at  that  price. 


LAST    day's    shooting.  285 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

The  day  for  our  departure  is  fixed,  and  the  order 
for  breaking  up  our  bivouac  has  issued  ;  we  leave  the 
cabin  to-morrow,  and  some  of  us,  in  course  of  mortal 
changes  and  chances  are  never  fated  to  visit  it  again, 
and,  "  breast  the  keen  air  "  of  these  extensive  moun- 
tains. We  have  all  devoted  this,  our  last  day,  to 
separate  pursuits.  I,  with  my  kinsman,  take  to  the 
hills,  while  the  Colonel  and  the  Priest  descend  the  river, 
thus  embracing  sports  by  "  fell  and  flood."  Old 
Antony,  encouraged  by  the  report  of  the  fishing  party 
has  hobbled  off  at  day-break  with  his  trap  and 
terrier,  determined,  as  he  expressed  it,  "  to  try  his 
fortune  once  more  before  he  died."  A  shepherd- 
boy  accompanied  him,  and  when  the  distance  and  diffi- 
culty of  the  ground  is  considered,  the  old  man*s  courage 
is  surprising,  and  nothing  but  that  master-passion 
which  through  a  long  life  has  been  remarkable  could 
nerve  the  otter-killer  to  the  enterprise. 

Our  last  day's  sport,  during  its  forenoon,  was  most 
unpromising.  The  birds  were  scarce,  unsettled,  and 
"  wild  as  hawks."  From  the  extreme  steadiness  of  the 
dogs,  we  sometimes  succeeded  in  surprising  them  ; 
but  generally,  the  cock  took  alarm,  and  gave  the  signal 
for  escapCj  and  the  brood  got  off  with  a  random  shot 
or  two.  At  last,  when  almost  weary  of  following  birds 
who  appeared  determined  not  to  stand  a  point,  accident 
did  for  us  what  neither  art  nor  local  experience  could 
achieve. 

On  a  narrow  strip  of  heather,  which  fringed  the  banks 
pf  a  little  rivulet,  one  of  our  youngest  and  wildest  setters 


286  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

Stopped  in  his  career  as  if  he  had  been  shot.  The 
suddenness  of  his  check,  and  the  steady  point  he  stood 
at,  intimated  that  the  birds  were  immediately  beside 
him  ;  and  while  my  cousin,  who  happened  to  be  at  a 
little  distance,  hurried  up,  Hennessey  observed  a  splendid 
pack  of  fifteen  birds  steaUng  off  across  the  bare  bog.  It 
was  a  brood  of  very  unusual  number  to  meet  with  at  this 
advanced  season,  when  the  strongest  packs  have  generally 
been  reduced  by  gun  or  vermin.  The  moor  that 
adjoined  the  banks  on  which  the  grouse  were  found 
was  a  barren,  soft  surface,  without  either  heath  or  broken 
ground  to  cover  our  approach  ;  and  when  we  attempted 
to  close  up,  the  cock  took  wing,  and  the  pack  rose 
instantly  and  crossed  the  flats,  continuing  their  flight 
over  a  small  hill,  until  we  lost  them  altogether. 

We  were  very  doubtful  whether  we  should  follow 
them,  as  the  hill  was  particularly  steep  and  barren, 
and  the  ground  beyond  it,  to  judge  from  appearances, 
as  bare  as  the  exposed  moorlands  the  birds  had  quitted. 
At  this  moment  of  indecision,  Hennessey  recollected 
that  there  was  a  little  valley  beneath  the  brow  where 
the  grouse  had  left  our  view  ;  but  my  kinsman,  often 
as  he  had  been  on  these  hills,  had  never  before  been 
aware  of  its  situation.  Hennessey's  information 
determined  us  to  proceed  ;  we  accordingly  clambered 
up  the  ascent,  and  when  we  reached  the  brow  of  the 
height,  discovered  immediately  below  one  of  the 
sweetest  glens  I  ever  looked  at,  stretching  between  the 
basis  of  the  hill  we  occupied  and  the  higher  ridge  beyond 
it.  It  was  an  admirable  retreat  for  grouse — several 
rivulets  trickled  through  the  hollow,  and  everywhere 
it  was  covered  with  thick,  tall  heath,  in  rich  blossom, 
and  the  cranberries,  of  which  these  birds  are  particu- 


287 

larly  fond,  were  growing  all  around  in  great  abundance. 
Delighted  with  our  new  discovery,  we  determined  to 
investigate  this  land  of  promise  closely,  and  our  expec- 
tations, though  excited  by  the  appearance  of  this 
beautiful  glen,  were  amply  realised.  We  found  the  pack 
that  escaped  us  in  the  low  grounds,  and  they  paid  dearly 
for  the  long  walk  they  had  given  us  in  the  pursuit.  The 
valley  produced  two  other  broods  ;  and  soon,  after  some 
hours  of  capital  shooting,  we  found  our  game  bags, 
when  we  left  the  glen,  increased  by  twenty-three  of  the 
finest  birds  I  ever  saw.  We  might  have  thinned  the 
packs  still  more,  but  my  kinsman  was  anxious  to  leave 
this  secret  valley  with  a  sufficient  stock,  to  render  it 
a  sure  resource  when  grouse  could  not  be  otherwise 
obtained.  This  was  indeed  a  good  wind-up  to  our 
highland-shooting  :  and  as  we  sprang  several  scattered 
birds  during  our  return,  we  decided  that  this  was  our 
best  day  throughout  the  season,  and  worthy  of  the 
brightest  page  of  the  game-book,  in  which  all  our  failures 
and  successes  were  duly  and  faithfully  chronicled 
since  we  took  to  the  hills. 

A  curious  incident  supplied  us  with  an  excellent 
white  fish.  The  servant  who  brought  the  post-bag, 
when  in  the  act  of  crossing  the  river,  which,  in  his 
route  from  the  Lodge,  he  was  obliged  to  do  repeatedly, 
most  unexpectedly  encountered  a  large  otter  carrying 
off  a  salmon  he  had  just  seized.  The  postman  attacked 
the  poacher  vigorously,  who,  dropping  his  prey,  glided 
off  into  the  deep  water  at  the  tail  of  the  ford.  The 
spoil  proved  to  be  a  fresh  salmon  not  twenty  hours  from 
the  sea,  and  consequently  in  prime  condition.  The 
otter  showed  himself  the  best  artist  of  the  day  ;  for  while 
the   Colonel  and  his  companion  returned  with  empty 


288  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

baskets,  the  little  animal  managed  to  secure  the  finest 
and  freshest  salmon  in  the  river. 

To  give  eclat  to  our  parting  feast,  a  red-deer  haunch 
had  been  reserved,  and  in  its  roasting,  John,  as  poor 
Napoleon  would  say,  "  covered  himself  with  glory." 
Dinner  passed  as  such  a  dinner  should  pass.  The  Colonel 
and  the  Priest  appeared  bent  upon  conviviality.  We 
too  prepared  for  a  jovial  carouse  ;  and  it  was  generally 
determined  that  our  parting  banquet  should  be  the 
'*  merriest,  as  the  last." 

Evening  passed  quickly — ^there  was  no  moon  visible 
till  after  midnight,  and  the  wind,  which  had  hitherto 
been  unheard,  began  to  make  that  mournful  noise 
around  the  cabin,  which  generally  indicates  an  approach- 
ing change  of  weather.  The  otter-killer *s  absence 
was  now,  for  the  first  time,  remarked,  and  I  observed 
that  my  kinsman  rose  frequently  from  the  table,  to  look 
long  and  anxiously  from  the  window.  Another  hour 
passed,  and  our  alarm  was  fearfully  increased,  for, 
aware  of  the  feebleness  of  the  old  man,  we  apprehended 
that  he  would  be  unable  to  make  good  his  journey  ; 
and,  if  benighted  in  the  moors,  the  probability  was 
great  that  he  would  perish  of  cold  before  the  morning. 

While  we  remained  in  painful  suspense,  each  feeling 
an  unwillingness  to  interrupt  the  comfort  of  the  evening 
by  expressing  fears  that  haply  might  only  be  imaginary, 
a  squall  rushed  up  the  river,  and  showed  us  that  the 
wind  had  chopped  round  to  the  westward  several  points 
since  twilight.  At  that  moment  a  commotion  was  heard 
outside — the  pipes  ceased — loud  and  earnest  whisper- 
ings succeeded — the  door  opened,  and  John,  with  a  pale 
face  and  hurried  voice,  told  us  that  the  otter-killer 
was  missing,  and  the  boy  who  had  accompanied  him  in 


LAST   day's   shooting.  289 

the  morning  to  the  lakes,  had  now  returned  without 
being  able  to  give  any  tidings  of  old  Antony,  from  whom 
it  appeared  that  he  had  separated  several  hours  before. 
"  Get  Hghts  instantly,"  exclaimed  my  cousin. 
"  Away,  all  of  you  !  disperse  right  and  left  across  the 
bogs.  Come  Frank,  on  with  the  brogues.  I  fear  our 
poor  otter-killer  is  but  '  a  lost  priest.'  No,  Colonel, 
your  services  would  be  useless — "  for  the  commander, 
forgetting  gout  and  rheumatism,  and  alive  only  to  the 
danger  of  his  ancient  associate,  had  prepared  to  accom- 
pany the  party. 

In  a  few  minutes  every  effective  member  of  our 
body-politic  was  in  motion.  The  scene  was  uncommon 
and  picturesque.  It  being  pitch  dark  as  the  respective 
parties  dispersed  across  the  moor  upon  their  different 
routes  to  the  mountain  lakes,  the  stream  of  torch-light 
falling  upon  the  figures,  as  they  were  revealed  and  hidden 
by  the  inequalities  of  the  ground  they  traversed,  was 
really  imposing.  Their  wild  shouts  died  gradually 
as  the  distance  increased  ;  and  presently  nothing  was 
heard  by  our  party  but  the  rushing  of  the  stream  and  the 
moaning  of  the  blast. 

Obedient  to  Hennessey's  advice,  we  followed  the  river 
path,  as  the  likeliest  one  which  the  otter-killer  would 
select  in  his  unfortunate  attempt  to  return  to  the  cabin. 
On  either  side  of  the  moorland  the  peasants  were 
extended,  and  occasionally  we  caught  a  glimpse  of  their 
fading  lights,  as  they  glanced  and  disappeared  among 
the  hillocks.  Our  own  path  was  so  rough  and  difficult 
that  the  torch  could  not  secure  us  from  many  and  severe 
falls  ;  and  from  the  extreme  darkness  of  the  night,  it 
was  too  evident  that  Antony  could  never  make  good 
his   way.     We   almost   despaired   of  being   enabled   to 


290  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

render    assistance    to    the    unfortunate    object    of    our 
search. 

Suddenly,  Hennessey,  who  led  the  party,  halted. 
"By  heaven  !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  I  heard  either  a  fox's 
whimper^  or  the  cry  of  a  dog." 

He  put  his  finger  to  his  lips  and  whistled  shrilly, 
and  instantly  a  long-sustained  howl  answered  to  the 
signal. 

"  It  is  Venney's  cry,"  said  our  leader.  *'  God  grant 
that  her  master  be  still  alive  !  " 

We  pushed  forward  rapidly  for  several  hundred  yards 
in  the  direction  the  noise  was  heard  from  ;  and  the 
whining  of  a  dog,  broken  now  and  then  by  a  long  and 
piercing  howl,  continued  to  guide  us.  We  reached  the 
place,  and  on  turning  a  rock  which  elbowed  into  the 
river  abruptly,  found  the  old  man  extended  on  the 
ground,  cold  and  motionless.  The  trap  was  bound 
across  his  back,  and  a  large  otter  lay  at  some  yards 
distance  from  the  place  where  he  had  fallen. 

We  raised  him  up,  while  the  faithful  terrier  frisked 
about  us,  and  testified  sincere  delight  at  the  promised 
recovery  of  her  master.  The  old  man's  eyes  feebly 
opened  when  the  torch-light  flashed  upon  his  face. 
This  symptom  of  existing  fife  encouraged  us,  and,  as 
his  extremities  were  cold  and  powerless,  his  master  and 
I  rubbed  them  briskly  between  our  hands,  while 
Hennessey  poured  some  brandy  down  his  throat. 

"  We  want  instant  help,"  said  my  cousin  ;  *'  jump 
upon  the  bank,  and  see  if  anybody  is  near  us." 

His  foster  brother  rushed  up  the  brow,  and  whistled 
loudly,  but  the  signal  was  unheard  or  unheeded.  Again 
he  exerted  himself,  but  ineff'ectually,  to  make  the  flanking 
parties  hear  him  :   there  was  no  reply. 


LAST   DAY  S   SHOOTING.  29I 

"  This  may  be  heard,"  he  muttered,  and,  drawing 
a  pistol  from  his  breast,  the  loud  report  was  answered 
by  a  distant  halloo.  Next  moment  lights  appeared, 
and  our  shouts  and  whistles  directed  the  torch-bearers 
to  the  place. 

We  disencumbered  the  dying  man  of  his  iron  trap, 
and  our  attempts  to  restore  suspended  animation  appeared 
to  be  partially  successful.  But  the  Priest,  who  led  the 
party  coming  to  our  relief,  gave  us  still  better  hopes, 
by  ascertaining  that  the  old  man's  pulse  was  beating. 

From  the  assistance  we  received,  the  unfortunate 
otter-killer  was  transported  quickly  to  the  cabin.  A 
bed  was  already  heated,  and  John  had  abundance  of 
warm  water  to  bathe  his  chilled  Umbs.  Our  unabated 
efforts  were  crowned  with  ultimate  success  ;  for  before 
midnight,  he  had  recovered  his  speech,  and  was  enabled, 
though  with  some  difficulty,  to  give  us  the  particulars 
of  his  unlucky  excursion. 

He  reached,  it  appeared,  the  loughs  soon  after  day- 
light, and  discovered  the  numerous  footmarks  which 
the  fishing-party  had  already  observed.  One  trace  he 
particularly  followed,  and,  from  the  spraint,  concluded 
the  animal  would  cross  the  path  again  before  evening  ; 
and,  after  setting  his  trap,  Antony  retired  to  a  distance, 
whence,  himself  unseen,  he  could  watch  the  event. 

At  twilight,  as  the  old  man  had  conjectured,  the 
otter,  on  his  return,  crossed  the  path,  and  was  secured, 
and  the  hunter,  and  his  terrier  made  good  the  capture. 
Proud  of  his  success,  which,  to  the  old  man  seemed 
a  proof  that  his  energies  were  not  yet  gone,  he  foolishly 
endeavoured  to  carry  this  trophy  of  his  skill  along  with 
him,  instead  of  leaving  it  with  his  trap,  for  some  gossoon 
to  bring  in  the  morning  to  the  cabin.     He  turned  his 


292  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

steps  homeward  ;  but  the  trap  and  the  otter,  with  the 
soft  and  harassing  ground  he  had  to  traverse,  speedily 
exhausted  his  feeble  strength  ;  the  light  faded  away, 
the  wind  rose,  and  before  he  crossed  the  swamp,  and 
gained  the  firm  but  rugged  path  beside  the  river,  the 
darkness  rendered  it  almost  impossible  for  even  a  young 
person  to  have  proceeded  safely.  After  feeble  and 
slow  efforts  to  get  forward,  he  stumbled  over  a  stone, 
his  energies  were  totally  exhausted  by  fatigue,  and  he 
was  unable  to  rise  again. 

His  faithful  dog  couched  herself  beside  her  fallen 
master,  and  the  last  sounds  that  the  despairing  otter- 
killer  heard  were  the  long  and  mournful  howls  with 
which  Venom  mourned  over  his  calamity. 


HE   ''  JANE  '     RUNS    A   CARGO.  293 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

The  illness  of  the  old  otter-killer  has  clouded  our 
moorland  excursions  at  their  close,  and  we  leave  with 
melancholy  forebodings  our  mountain  bivouac.  Antony, 
at  his  own  request,  was  carried  to  the  Lodge  to-day  ; 
and  when  the  difficulty  of  the  ground  and  the  frequent 
crossing  of  the  river  is  considered,  it  was  an  arduous 
undertaking.  The  camp-followers  arranged  a  rude 
litter  ;  and  as  works  of  mercy  are  highly  estimated  by 
pious  Catholics,  there  were  more  volunteers  to  assist  in 
transporting  the  dying  man  than  could  well  find  employ- 
ment. 

During  our  progress  down,  we  had  some  hours' 
superior  sport  with  the  eagle.  Pullgarrow,  that  inimit- 
able hole,  has  more  than  realised  what  the  Colonel  and 
our  kinsman  have  said  and  sung  in  its  commendation. 
In  Christendom  it  could  not  be  surpassed,  and  of  this 
best  of  pools  may  be  said  that  "  none  but  itself  can  be 
its  parallel." 

In  the  minor  streams  we  killed  more  red  trout  this 
morning  than  we  do  generally.  Indeed,  from  the 
character  of  this  river,  I  have  been  puzzled  to  account 
for  the  evident  scarcity  of  this  species  in  a  water  that 
appears  so  especially  adapted  for  them.  The  clearness 
of  the  stream,  the  gravelly  soil  it  flows  over,  its  pools 
and  rapids,  all  seem  calculated  to  produce  red  trout 
plentifully.  But  they  are  not  numerous  ;  and  as  the 
flies  we  invariably  use  are  formed  for  the  other  species, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  we  find  but  few  red  trout  in  the 
baskets. 

With  this  day's  fishing  our  river  sports  terminate. 


294  W^^^  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

Rods  and  lines,  and  all  the  maUriel  of  the  craft,  will  now 
be  laid  in  ordinary,  and  till  spring  comes  round  again, 
other  sports  must  occupy  the  idle  hours.  I  have  learned 
more — although  I  acknowledge,  with  all  humility,  my 
un worthiness  as  an  angler — by  a  few  day's  practical 
experience,  than  I  could  have  almost  considered  possible  ; 
and  I  have  ascertained  how  inadequate  theory  is  to 
instruct  a  neophyte  in  the  art.  In  angling,  however, 
like  other  manly  exercises,  men  are  constituted  by 
nature  to  succeed  or  fail.  We  know  that  there  are  per- 
sons who,  though  born  in  a  preserve^  could  never  shoot 
even  tolerably,  while  others,  with  less  advantages, 
speedily  become  adepts.  One  man  can  never  learn  to 
ride  ;  and  another,  in  a  short  time,  can  cross  the  country 
Hke  "  a  winged  Mercury.'*  The  same  rule  holds  good 
in  angUng ; — A.  in  a  short  period  becomes  perfect 
master  of  the  arcana  of  the  gentle  science  ;  while  B.  will 
thresh  a  river  to  eternity,  dismissing  flies,  breaking 
tops,  losing  foot-links,  and  perpetrating  every  enormity 
with  which  a  tyro  is  chargeable. 

Yet  to  a  man  naturally  handy,  and  observant,  little 
is  required  to  acquire  the  art,  but  a  good  stream  and 
tolerable  attention.  He  will  soon  gain  more  practical 
information  and  mechanical  science  than  any  book  can 
inculcate.  And  it  will  be  only  when,  by  practice,  he 
has  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  science,  that  he  will 
be  able  to  comprehend  what  written  theories  profess 
to  teach. 

We  had  scarcely  left  the  river,  when  a  man,  who  stood 
upon  an  eminence  that  commanded  an  extensive  view 
seaward,  gesticulated  with  great  energy,  and  made, 
what  appeared  to  me,  some  momentous  communication 
in  the  mother  tongue. 


THE   JANE   RUNS  A  CARGO.         295 

"It  is  the  Jane  !  "  exclaimed  my  kinsman,  as  he 
bounded  up  the  bank  to  gain  the  summit  of  the  hillock. 
I  did  not  comprehend  exactly  what  the  affair  was  which 
created  such  powerful  emotions  among  my  companions  ; 
but  when  I  reached  the  height,  a  scene  of  extreme 
interest  was  presented. 

Between  the  Black  Rock  and  the  island  of  Devilawn, 
a  cutter  was  opening  the  bay,  and  standing  from  the 
westward  under  a  press  of  canvas.  She  carried  a  spank- 
ing breeze  in,  and,  as  her  course  was  two  points  off  the 
wind,  her  sails  drew,  and  she  came  up  "  hand  over  hand." 
The  approach  was  evidently  expected,  for  from  every 
nook  and  inlet  rowboats  were  being  launched — the  whole 
population  poured  forth  from  the  mountain  villages — 
and  the  coast,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  was 
in  marvellous  commotion.  Nothing  could  be  more 
beautiful  and  picturesque  than  the  appearance  of  the 
smuggler.  The  sunshine  fell  upon  her  snowy  canvas, 
a  private  signal  fluttered  from  the  mast-head,  and  a 
union-jack  was  flying  at  the  peak,  while,  occasionally, 
a  sheet  of  broken  foam  sparkled  round  her  bows,  as  she 
held  her  onward  course  gallantly, 

"And  walked  the  water  like  a  thing  of  life." 

In  a  few  minutes  after  her  having  been  first  discovered, 
boats  were  pulling  from  the  shore  in  all  directions,  while 
the  cutter  closed  the  land  fast.  When  abreast  the 
Ridge  Point,  she  suddenly  rounded-to,  handed  her 
gaff  top-sail,  hauled  up  the  main-tack,  and  waited  for 
the  boats. 

"I  cannot  go  on  board,"  said  my  kinsman,  with  a 
heavy  sigh,  '*  being,  alas  !  like  Master  Robert  Shallow, 
'  a  poor  esquire  of  this  county,  and  one  of  the  King's 


296  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

Justices  of  the  Peace  ;  '  but  though  I  shall  not  pay  my 
personal  respects,  yet  will  not  my  old  friend  Jack 
Matthews  forget  me  ;  but  you  shall  board  the  Jane, 
and  witness  a  bustling  business.  I'll  promise  you  a 
hearty  welcome  from  the  skipper — and  see,  you  are  just 
in  time,  for  the  gig  is  on  the  water." 

As  he  spoke,  he  hailed  the  boat,  which,  returning 
to  the  beach,  took  me  on  board,  and  then  pulled  off  for 
the  vessel,  which,  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  we  reached. 

It  was,  indeed,  a  bustling  scene  ;  a  hundred  boats 
were  collected  round  the  smuggler,  who,  to  use  nautical 
parlance,  had  already  "  broken  bulk,"  and  was  dis- 
charging the  cargo  with  a  rapidity,  and  yet  orderly  and 
business-like  system,  that  was  surprising. 

I  was  immediately  recognised  by  Captain  Matthews, 
and  politely  invited  to  his  cabin.  Aware  of  the  hurry 
consequent  upon  this  dangerous  traffic,  on  the  plea  of 
his  presence  being  requisite  upon  deck,  I  would  have 
declined  the  honour  ;  but  the  gallant  Captain  remarked, 
with  great  indifference,  "  that  he  left  the  delivery  of 
his  cargo  to  the  agents  and  purchasers,  and  could  not 
spend  an  hour  or  two  more  to  his  satisfaction,  than 
in  entertaining,  in  his  own  way,  the  kinsman  of  his 
respected  friend."  And,  calling  for  the  steward,  he 
stepped  forward  to  order  some  refreshments. 

While  he  was  thus  engaged,  I  had  ample  time  to 
satisfy  my  curiosity,  and  observe  the  conduct  of  this 
ilHcit  traffic.  There  appeared  no  confusion  attendant 
on  the  delivery  of  the  tobacco  to  its  respective  pro- 
prietors, who  had  already  engaged  certain  proportions 
of  the  cargo,  which  they  received  upon  the  production  of 
small  tickets,  specifying  the  quantity  and  description  of 
the  goods  ;  the  business  having  been  previously  arranged 


THE   JANE   RUNS  A  CARGO.         297 

on  shore,  before  the  arrival  of  the  smuggler,  facilitated 
the  dangerous  trade. 

When  I  found  myself  in  the  cabin  with  the  bold  outlaw 
— for  Matthews  had  been  legally  denounced  for  many 
daring  and  successful  contests  with  the  Revenue — 
I  could  not  but  admire  the  thorough  indifference  to 
possible  consequences  which  this  singular  personage 
exhibited.  He  knew  that  several  men-of-war  were  at 
that  moment  cruising  on  the  station,  and  that  they  had 
been  apprised  he  had  sailed  from  Flushing,  and  that 
this  coast  was  the  spot  selected  by  the  owners  to  effect 
the  anding — yet  he  laughed  and  drank  as  gaily  as  I 
should  in  a  club-house,  and  despatched  the  messages 
which  were  occasionally  brought  down  with  perfect 
nonchalance.  He  spoke  principally  of  his  own  exploits  ; 
and  the  scene  was  admirably  in  keeping.  Around  the 
cabin,  muskets,  pistols,  and  blunderbusses  were  secured 
in  arm-racks,  and  cutlasses  and  tomahawks  were  sus- 
pended from  the  bulkheads.  His  had  been  a  wild  career  ; 
and  though  not  past  the  middle-age,  his  life  teemed 
with  "  perilous  adventure."  I  was  so  much  amused 
with  his  varied  narratives  of  brave  attempts  and  desperate 
successes,  that  the  second  hour  slipped  away  before  I 
rose  and  took  my  departure.  On  regaining  the  deck, 
the  hurry  of  the  business  was  over.  The  contraband 
cargo  had  been  replaced  by  stone  ballast ;  for,  by  previous 
arrangement,  each  boat  brought  a  quantity  of  shingle 
from  the  beach,  and  hence  the  smuggler  was  already  in 
trim,  and  ready  to  stand  out  to  sea. 

This  notorious  vessel  was  considered  in  size  and 
saiUng  superior  to  any  of  a  similar  class,  and  her  voyages 
had  been  numerous  and  successful.  Her  armament 
was  formidable  ;  sixteen  heavy  carronades  were  extended 


298  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

along  the  deck,  with  two  long,  brass  guns  of  smaller 
calibre  and  every  other  appurtenance  of  war  was  in 
perfect  efficiency.  But  the  most  striking  object  was  her 
ferocious-looking,  but  magnificent  crew  ;  they  seemed 
only  formed  for  "  the  battle  and  the  breeze  ;  "  and  well 
justified  their  commander's  boast,  "  that  he  could 
thrash  any  cruiser  of  his  own  size,  and  land  his  cargo 
in  six  hours  afterwards." 

We  left  the  vessel — and,  to  judge  by  the  kegs  and  cases 
stowed  away  in  the  gig,  my  cousin  had  not  been  for- 
gotten in  the  general  distribution.  The  outlaw  stood 
upon  a  carronade,  and  waved  his  hand  as  we  pulled  from 
the  ship's  side  ;  and  in  a  short  time  set  his  head-sails, 
and  stood  off  to  sea  with  the  ebb-tide  and  a  spanking 
breeze,  which  carried  him  out  of  sight  directly. 

This  was  fated  to  be  the  last  landing  of  the  Jane,  and 
the  last  exploit  of  her  commander  ;  she  foundered  on 
her  next  voyage,  and  every  person  on  board  perished 
with  the  vessel.* 

We  had  nearly  reached  the  bar,  when  we  observed  a 
large  sailing-boat  strike  on  the  tail  of  Carrig-a-boddagh, 
and  as  the  tide  was  falling  fast,  she  was  in  momentary 
danger  of  falHng  over.  Every  exertion  of  the  crew  to  get 
her  off  was  ineffectual ;  and  on  our  nearer  approach 
they  evinced  such  unequivocal  symptoms  of  inebriety 
as  accounted  for  the  disaster.  A  solitary  passenger  was 
on  board,  who  appeared  in  desperate  alarm  ;  and,  at 
his  own  earnest  solicitation,  we  received  him  and  his 
personal  effects,  which  were  extremely  limited,  into 
our  boat.  The  crew  remained  with  the  hooker,  which 
they  calculated  upon  floating  off  the  following  tide. 

*The  Jane  went  down  in  a  tremendous  gale  off  the  north-west 
coast  of  Ireland.  Her  consort,  The  Blue-eyed  Maid,  witnessed  the 
melancholy  event,  without  being  able  to  render  any  assistance. 


THE  **  JANE  "  RUNS  A  CARGO.  299 

I  was  much  struck  with  the  appearance  of  the  stranger. 
His  voice  and  bearing  told  that  he  was  not  indigenous 
to  the  soil  :  low  in  stature,  delicate  in  form,  with  a  timid 
and  suspicious  bearing,  I  was  greatly  puzzled  to  account 
for  his  being  a  passenger  in  a  Connemara  fishing-boat. 
Although  nervous  as  a  woman  before  we  reached  the  pier, 
I  had  tranquillized  him  so  far  as  to  find  out  generally  that 
he  had  left  the  Galway  coast,  in  the  expectation  of  being 
landed  on  the  shores  of  Sligo  ;  but  that  the  crew,  having 
boarded  the  smuggler,  managed  to  get  gloriously  drunk, 
and,  diverging  totally  from  their  course,  ran  the  hooker 
on  a  reef,  from  which  they  should  have  been  several 
leagues  distant. 

The  stranger  was  an  Englishman.  He  met  from  my 
kinsman  a  hospitable  reception — and  the  Colonel  and 
I  united  our  attentions,  and  in  a  great  degree  restored 
his  confidence.  Nothing,  however,  could  persuade  him 
that  the  hooker  had  not  been  run  designedly  upon  the 
rock,  and  that  he  and  his  travelling-bag  would  have  been 
victimized  by  what  he  termed  "  desperate  pirates," 
but  for  our  seasonable  rescue.  My  cousin  smiled. 
"  The  conduct  of  the  drunken  scoundrels,"  he  said, 
"  was  unpardonable ;  but  he  doubted  whether  they 
harboured  those  nefarious  designs.  Strangers  were 
frequently  led  away  by  appearances,  and  it  was  no 
uncommon  thing  for  travellers  to  suffer  unnecessary 
alarm  from  groundless  causes."  And  he  related  an 
anecdote  of  a  gentleman  being  put  in  fear  and  terror,  in 
a  neighbouring  county,  by  mistaking  a  fish  for  a 
weapon. 

"  Soon  after  the  rebellion  of  Ninety-eight,  an  English 
merchant  was  necessitated,  by  urgent  business,  to 
visit    the    kingdom    of    Connaught.     Having    provided 


300  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST 

himself  with  a  servant,  who  professed  an  acquaintance 
with  the  language  of  the  country,  he  made  his  will,  and 
took  a  place  in  the  Westport  Mail.     He  reached  the 

post-town  of  in  safety,  and  from  it  proceeded  to 

cross  that  wild  and  picturesque  mountain-chain  which 
bounds  the  beautiful  shores   of  Lough   Corrib. 

"  It  was  late  in  autumn  :  the  weather  had  been  wet, 
and,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  the  bridle-roads,  the 
traveller  was  benighted  some  miles'  distance  from  the 
house  that  he  had  calculated  upon  reaching.  Unable 
to  proceed  farther,  he  reluctantly  took  up  his  quarters 
at  a  shebeine-house.  It  was  but  a  sorry  caravansera — 
but  nothing  could  surpass  the  apparent  kindness  of  the 
family.  Supper  was  prepared  ;  the  best  bed  was  sheeted, 
and  when  the  belated  stranger  had  sufficiently  refreshed 
himself,  he  was  conducted  to  an  inner  room,  where, 
at  his  own  request,  the  servant  was  also  accommodated 
with  a  pallet. 

"  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  marked  civility  of  the 
family,  the  stranger  could  not  overcome  a  secret  appre- 
hension of  impending  danger.  It  was  a  wild  place — 
a  wilder  family  ;  he  feared  that  treachery  lurked  under- 
neath this  studied  kindness  ;  and,  as  he  tossed  upon 
his  restless  bed,  he  listened  with  painful  anxiety  to  every 
sound.  Midnight  came  ;  the  outer  door  was  opened 
cautiously — several  men  entered  the  kitchen  with 
stealthy  pace — they  conversed  in  their  native  language,^ 
his  name  was  mentioned,  and  himself  was,  beyond  doubt, 
the  subject  of  this  nocturnal  conversazione.  Crawling 
in  an  agony  of  apprehension  to  the  pallet  where  his 
attendant  lay,  he  awoke  the  sleeper,  intimated  his 
suspicions  in  a  whisper,  and  desired  him  to  report 
faithfully  the  midnight  colloquy    in  the  outer  chamber. 


THE   JANE   RUNS  A  CARGO.  3OT 

**  *  What's  that  they  say  ? '   quoth  the  traveller. 

"  *  They  want  another  pint,  for  they  have  not  had 
such  a  prize  for  the  last  twelvemonth/ 

"  '  That's  me  !  '   groaned  the  querist. 

"  *  They  have  five  pikes  already,  and  expect  more 
before  morning,'  continued  the  valet. 

**  '  Truculent  scoundrels  !  ' 

"  '  The  largest  is  intended  for  yourself !  ' 

"  *  Lord  defend  me  !  '    ejaculated  the  stranger. 

"  '  They  wonder  if  you  are  sleeping.' 

"  *  Cold-blooded  monsters  ;  they  want  to  despatch 
us  quietly.' 

"  '  The  owner  swears  that  nobody  shall  enter  this 
room  till  morning.' 

"  *  Ay,  then  they  will  have  daylight,  and  no  diffi- 
culty.' 

** '  And  now,  he  urges  them  to  go  to  bed.' 

"  *  Heaven  grant  they  may  !  for  then,  escape  from 
this  den  of  murder  might  be  possible.' 

"  Listening  with  a  beating  heart  until  unequivocal 
symptoms  of  deep  sleep  were  heard  from  the  kitchen, 
the  unhappy  Englishman,  leaving  his  effects  to  fortune, 
crawled  through  the  window  half-dressed,  and,  with  a 
world  of  trouble  and  perilous  adventure,  managed  early 
next  morning  to  reach  his  original  place  of  destination. 

"  Never,  however,  was  man  more  mortified  than  he, 
when  he  related  his  fearful  story.  His  tale  was  fre- 
quently interrupted  by  a  laugh,  which  politesse  vainly 
endeavoured  to  control. 

"  '  Zounds !  '  cried  the  irritated  Englishman,  no 
longer  able  to  conceal  his  rage, '  is  my  throat  so  valueless 
that  its  cutting  should  merely  raise  a  horse-laugh  ? ' 

**  *  My  dear  friend,'  replied  the  host,  *  you  must  excuse 
me — it  is  so  funny,  I  cannot,  for  the  life  of  me,  be  serious. 


302  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE   WEST. 

The  cause  of  all  your  fears  lies  quietly  in  the  outer  hall. 
Come,  you  shall  judge  upon  what  good  grounds  you 
absconded  through  a  window,  and  skirmished  half  the 
night  over  hill  and  dale,  with  but  the  nether  portion  of 
your  habiliments.' 

**  As  he  spoke  he  uncovered  a  large  basket,  and  pointed 
to  a  huge  pike  of  some  thirty  pounds  weight,  which  was 
coiled  around  the  bottom. 

"  *  The  stormy  weather,'  continued  the  host,  '  having 
interrupted  our  supply  of  sea-fish,  the  peasants  who 
alarmed  you  had  been  setting  night  lines  for  your 
especial  benefit.  The  petka  more^^  which  you  heard 
devoted  to  your  services  in  the  shebeine-house,  was  not 
an  instrument  of  destruction,  but,  as  you  shall  admit  at 
six  o'clock,  as  good  a  white  fish  as  ever  true  Catholics, 
like  you  and  I,  were  doomed  wherewithal  to  mortify  the 
flesh  upon  a  blessed  Friday.'  " 

The  stranger  smiled. 

*'  I  may  have  wronged  my  late  companions,"  he  said, 
"  but  I  have  of  late  been  under  such  constant  and 
painful  excitement,  that  I  often  wonder  that  reason  held 
her  seat.  I  have  this  evening  not  only  been  delivered 
from  considerable  danger,  but  I  have  fallen  most 
unexpectedly  upon  persons  and  a  place  which,  on  this 
remote  coast,  and  among  these  wild  hills,  appear 
miraculous.  Your  accents  are  different  from  those 
I  have  lately  listened  to  :  and  could  I  but  find  courage 
to  tell  my  story,  you  would  own  that  I  have  lately  under- 
gone sufficient  trials  to  unnerve  a  stouter  frame  than  this 
feeble  one  of  mine." 

After  some  time,  the  stranger  felt  the  cheering  effect 
of  my  kinsman's  claret,  and  in  a  strain  which  might  be 
termed  serio-comic,  he  thus  narrated  his  story. 
♦  The  large  pike. 


NOT  THE  MAN  FuR   GALWAY.  303 


MEMOIR  OF  A  GENTLEMAN  WHO  WOULD  NOT  DO  FOR 
GALWAY 

"  I  am  descended  from  a  line  of  traders,  and  by  birth 
as  genuine  a  cockney  as  ever  listened  to  Bow-bells. 
My  mother's  nonage  was  passed  in  St.  Mary  Axe, 
and  my  father  was  a  dry-salter  in  Tooley  Street.  He  was 
third  of  the  same  name  that  there  had  dwelt  and  prospered. 
They  were  a  thrifty  and  punctihous  race  ;  and  it  was  a 
family  boast  that,  for  seventy  years,  a  bill  bearing  the 
acceptance  of  Daniel  Dawkins  had  never  been  in  the 
hands  of  the  notary.  There  is  virtue  in  a  good  name, 
'tis  said,  and  theirs  was  current  for  ten  thousand. 

"  I  was  an  only  child,  and  from  the  cradle  evinced  an 
indolent  and  dreamy  temperament,  which  was  ill  adapted 
to  withstand  the  worry  of  trade,  and  all  the  annoyances 
entailed  on  traffic.  I  hated  trouble  ;  hardly  knew  the 
difference  between  pearl-ashes  and  pearl-barley  ;  could 
never  comprehend  tare-and-trett,  and  had,  moreover, 
Hterary  propensities.  How  one  in  whose  veins  the  blood 
of  the  Dawkinses  circulated  could  be  so  deplorably 
uncommercial,  is  a  puzzle  ;  but  I  was,  I  suppose,  '  fore- 
doomed my  father's  soul  to  cross,'  and  an  unhappy 
tutor  ruined  me  beyond  recovery. 

"  My  Gamaliel  was  a  Scotch  gentleman  of  unblemished 
lineage,  remarkable  for  soiled  linen  and  classical  research, 
who  had  emigrated  from  a  highland  valley  with  an 
unpronounceable  name,  to  hold  a  secondary  situation 
in  a  city  academy,  where  the  progeny  of  Love  Lane 
and  Little  Britain  received  the  rudiments  of  polite  letters 
The  extra  hours  of  the  gifted  Celt  were,  for  the  considera- 
tion of  ten  pounds  annual  fee,  *  to  be  paid  quarterly. 


304  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

and  in  advance/  devoted  to  my  accomplishments. 
Never  had  man  more  profound  contempt  for  trade  and 
traders  than  he  at  whose  feet  I  was  indoctrinated.  He 
turned  his  nose  up  at  the  weahhiest  grocer  in  the  ward  ; 
and  was  barely  civil  to  a  tobacconist  who  had  a  villa  at 
Pentonville,  and  was,  moreover,  first  favourite  for  an 
aldermanic  gown.  Such  delinquency  could  not  be  over- 
looked, and  for  his  heretical  opinions  touching  commerce 
he  was  eventually  ejected  from  Tooley  Street.  But, 
alas  !  the  mischief  was  done — ^the  seed  was  already 
sown — and,  as  after-experience  proved,  none  of  it  had 
fallen  upon  the  way-side. 

"  *  In  brevity  I  shall  emulate  the  noble  Roman,'  quoth 
Jack  Falstaff  ;  and  so  shall  I,  so  far  as  the  autobiography 
of  my  youth  is  concerned.  I  abominated  business — ^was  an 
admirer  of  the  Corsair  and  Lallah  Rookh — ^was  generally 
given  to  inflammatory  poetry — ^wrote  fugitive  pieces, 
and  vainly  endeavoured  to  get  them  a  corner  in  the 
periodicals — quarrelled  with  my  parents — ^was  supported 
in  my  rebellion  by  a  romantic  aunt — and  when  my 
disinheritance  was  actually  in  legal  train,  was  saved 
by  my  parents  quitting  this  world  of  care,  which  they 
did  within  one  short  month,  by  the  agency  of  a  typhus 
fever  and  two  physicians. 

"  Thus  was  I  thrown  upon  the  world  at  two-and- 
twenty,  with  thirty  thousand  pounds.  Need  I  say 
that  I  abjured  business  instanter,  and  that  the  honoured 
name  of  Dawkins  disappeared  from  the  list  of  dry- 
salters  ?  For  some  years,  none  led  a  more  peaceful 
and  literary  life  ;  and  though  this  may  appear  a  solecism, 
nevertheless  it  is  positively  true.  The  rejection  of 
my  early  fugitives  had  chilled  the  metrical  outbreakings 
of  my  imagination.     I  had  almost  Cowper's  sensibility 


NOT  THE   MAN   FOR   GALWAY.  305 

— the  lethalis  arundo,  as  my  Scotch  tutor  would  term 
it,  was  deep  within  my  bosom — I  swore  I  would  never 
lucubrate  again  ;  never  again  perpetuate  a  stanza  ; 
and,  like  Mr.  Daniel  O'Connell's,  I  presume,  that  my 
vow  was  duly  registered  in  heaven. 

"  This  sunny  portion  of  my  life  was,  alas  !  but  tran- 
sitory. Mine,  sir,  is  a  tragic  tale.  I  date  the  origin  of  my 
misfortunes  on  board  a  Margate  steamer,  and  this  melan- 
choly epoch  I  shudder  to  recall.  Was  there  no  tutelary 
sprite,  no  suspicious  spinster,  to  whisper  a  cautionary 
advice  }  No  ;  without  a  single  fear  I  embarked  in  the 
Nereid  steamer  ;  afid,  as  the  papers  stated,  *  left  the 
Tower  stairs  with  a  select  party,  and  a  band  of  music, 

on  Friday,  the of  June,  182 — .' 

"  I  must  here  observe,  that  my  blue-stocking  aunt, 
who  had  actually  come  out  in  Leadenhall  Street  with 
one  small  and  admired  volume,  called  *  Pedrilla,  a  Tale 
of  Passion,'  had  been  latterly  urgent  with  me  to  enter 
into  matrimony.  *  Something  told  her,'  she  would 
say,  '  that  the  name  of  Dawkins  was  not  doomed  to  be 
forgotten,  like  that  of  Wood,  and  Birch,  and  Bagster. 
Men  of  tarts  and  turpentine  might  perish,  while — 
could  I  but  procure  a  talented  companion  ;  could  I 
but  unite  myself  to  a  congenial  soul,  God  knows  what  the 
result  would  prove  ! — a  gifted  progeny  might  honour 
me  with  their  paternity  ;  little  Popes  and  diminutive 
Landons  would  thus  be  given  to  the  world,  fated  to  be 
glorious  in  their  maturity,  and  lisping  in  numbers  from 
their  very  cots.' 

"  The  company  on  board  the  Nereid  were  generally 
known  to  me.  They  were  exclusively  Eastern  ;  and  there 
were  beauties  from  the  Minories,  and  nice  men  from 
Bishopsgate  Within  and  Without.  I  was  no  swain, 
and  as  Anti-gallican  in  my  dancing  as  Bob  Acres.     The 

X 


306  WILD   SPORTS    OF   THE   WEST. 

old  women  admitted  that,  though  a  good  catch,  1  had 
no  spirit  ;    the  young  ones  '  admired  the  money,  but 
disliked  the  man  ;  '    and,  as  1  did  not  form  one  of  the 
coryphees,  who  were  quadrilling  upon  the  quarter-deck, 
I  was  Hkely  enough  to  be  left  to   meditative  solitude. 
'*  But  there  was  another  person  who  appeared  to  hold 
no  communion  with  the  company      One  lady  seemed 
a  stranger  to  the  rest.     Accident  placed  me  beside  her,  and 
thus  she  became  more  intimately  my  compagnon  de  voyage. 
"  She  was  certainly  a  fine-looking  woman  ;    her  face 
was  comely,  but  somewhat  coarse  ;  her  hair  and  brows 
black  as  the  raven's  plumage,  her  nose  rather  too  marked 
for  a  woman's — ^but  then  her  waist  and  legs  were  unex- 
ceptionable.    She  evidently  possessed  a   sufficiency  of 
self-command  ;   no  mauvaise  honte,  no  feminine  timidity 
oppressed  her.     She  looked  bravely  around,  as  if  she 
would  assert  a  superiority  ;    and  accepted  my  civiHties 
graciously,  it  is  true,  but  with  the  air  and  dignity  of 
a  duchess.     She  was,  from  the  start,  no  favourite  with 
the  company,  and  there  was  no  inclination  evinced  by 
any  of  her  own  sex  to  make  approaches  to  familiarity. 
The  cockney  beaus  looked  upon  her  as  a  fine  but  formid- 
able animal  ;   and  to  me,  unworthy  as  I  was,  the  honour 
of    being    cavalier    serviente,    was    conceded    without    a 
contest.      Indeed,  at    dinner,  my    fair    friend    proved 
herself  too  edged  a  tool  for  civic  wit  to  touch  upon. 
When,  with  ultra-elegance,  an  auctioneer,  whose  assur- 
ance was  undeniable,  pressed  '  the  Hirish  lady  to  teeste 
a  roast  fole'  she  obliterated  the  accomplished  appraiser, 
by  brusquely  replying,  '  that  no  earthly  consideration 
could  induce  her  to  eat  horse-flesh  !  ' 

"  And  yet  to  this  woman  I  was  irresistibly  attracted. 
I  sate  beside  her  on  the  deck,  and  I  ministered  to  her 
coffee-cup  ;     and    when    the    Nereid    disembarked    her 


NOT   THE    MAN    FOR   GALWAY,  307 

crowd,  and  a  stout,  red -whiskered,  do-no-good  looking 

gentleman  presented  himself  upon  the  chain-pier,  and 

claimed  his  '  gentle  cousin,'  a  pang  of  agony  shot  across 

my  breast,  and  for  the  first  time  I  felt  the  curse    of 

jealousy.     And  yet,  God  knows,  she  was  not  the  person 

from  whom   '  little  Popes  '   might   be   expected  ;      her 

tender  pledges  would   be   better   qualified   for  rangers 

and    riflemen   than   denizens   of  the   world   of   letters. 

But  marriage  is  decreed  elsewhere,  and  mine  had  been 

already  beoked. 

What's    in    a    name  ?  '    observed    somebody.     I 

assert — everything.      Will  anybody  deny  that  *  Drusilla 

O'Shaughncssey  '  was  not  sufficient  to  alarm  any  but 

a  Shannonite  ?     Such  was  the  appellative  of  the  lady, 

while    her    honoured    kinsman    favoured    me    with    an 

embossed  card,  on   which   was  fairly   engraven,   '  Mr. 

Marc  Antony  Burke  Bodkin,  Ballybroney  House.' 

"  On  minor  matters  I  will  not  dilate.     It  appeared 

that  Miss  Drusilla  O'Shaughnessey  had  come  to  London 

in  hopeless  search  after  a  legacy  she  expected  in  right 

of  her  great-uncle,   Field-Marshal   O'Toole  ;    that  the 

Field- Marshal's   effects   were   undiscoverable  ;    and   no 

available    assets    could    be   traced    beyond    certain    old 

swords   and   battered   snuff-boxes ;    and   consequently, 

Drusilla,  who  had  been  an  heiress  in  expectancy,  was 

sadly    chagrined.      Furthermore,  it  appeared  that  Mr. 

Marc  Antony  Bodkin  formed  her  escort  from  Connemara, 

and,  being  a  *  loose  gentleman,'*  and  a  loving  cousin, 

he  bore  her  company.' 

*  No  attempt  is  made  here  to  insinuate  aught  against  the  morality 
of  Miss  O'Shaughnessey's  protector.  "  A  loose  gentleman,"  in  the 
common  parlance  of  the  kingdom  of  Conn  aught,  meaneth  simply  a 
gentleman  who  has  nothing  to  do,  and  nineteen  out  of  twenty  of  the 
aristocracy  of  that  truly  independent  country  may  be  thus  honour- 
ably classed. — Ed. 


308  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST 

"  If  ever  the  course  of  love  ran  smooth,  which  I 
sincerely  disbelieve,  mine  was  not  the  one.  I  shall  not 
attempt  a  description  of  the  progress  of  my  affaire  du 
coeur ;  for  I  suspect  that  I  was  the  wooed  one,  and  that 
Drusilla  had  marked  me  for  her  own,  and  Marc  Antony 
aided  and  abetted.  He,  good,  easy  gentleman,  was 
formed  for  Cupid's  embassies.  He  '  could  interpret 
between  you  and  your  love,*  as  Hamlet  says  ;  and  to 
one  with  my  sensibilities,  his  services  were  worth  a 
Jew's  eye.  If  woman  ever  possessed  the  cardinal 
virtues  united,  that  person  was  Drusilla.  She  was  what 
Marc  called  '  the  soul  of  honour  ;  '  yet  she  had  her 
weak  points,  and  he  hinted  darkly  that  myself  had  found 
favour  in  her  sight.  As  a  thing  of  course,  I  muttered 
a  handsome  acknowledgment ;  a  rejoinder  was  promptly 
returned,  per  same  conveyance,  as  my  father  would 
have  said — ^and  before  six  days  I  was  made  the  happiest 
of  men,  and  levanted  to  Gretna  with  the  lady  of  my 
love,  and  formally  attended  by  that  fidus  Achates, 
Marc  Antony  Bodkin. 

"  What  a  whirligig  world  this  is  !  I  recollect  well 
the  evening  before  the  indissoluble  knot  was  tied,  when 
I  strolled  into  the  little  garden  at  Newark.  My  thoughts 
were  '  big  with  future  bliss,'  and  my  path  of  life,  as  I 
opined,  strewed  knee-deep  with  roses  of  perennial 
blossom.  I  heard  voices  in  the  summer-house, — these 
were  my  loved  one's  and  her  relatives.  To  use  his 
own  parlance^  the  latter,  in  the  joy  of  his  heart,  had  taken 
a  sufficiency  of  wine  '  to  smother  a  priest ; '  and  as  the 
conversation  was  interesting  to  the  parties,  and  mine 
was  not  the  stride  of  a  warrior,  my  approach  was  not 
discovered  by  either.  The  conclave,  however,  had 
terminated,   and   though    but   the    parting   observation 


NOT  THE  MAN  FOR  GALWAY.  309 

reached  me,  it  is  too  faithfully  chronicled  on  my  memory 
to  be  forgotten — '  The  devil  is  an  onimadawn^  no  doubt  ; 
but  he  has  money  galore,  and  we'll  make  him  do  in 
Galway  !  '  As  he  spoke  they  rose,  and  passed  into  the 
house  without  observing  me. 

**  What  the  observation  of  Marc  Antony  meant 
I  could  not  for  the  life  of  me  comprehend.  Part  of  it 
was  spoken,  too,  in  an  unknown  tongue.  Was  /  the 
devil  }  and  what  was  an  ommadawn  ?  Dark  doubts 
crossed  my  mind  ;  but  vanished,  for  Drusilla  was  more 
gracious  than  ever,  and  Marc  Antony  squeezed  my 
hand  at  parting,  and  assured  me,  as  well  as  he  could 
articulate  after  six  tumblers  of  hot  Farintosh,  '  that  I 
was  a  lucky  man,  and  Drusilla  a  woman  in  ten  thousand. 
**  Well,  the  knot  was  tied,  and  but  for  the  dclat  of  the 
thing,  the  ceremony  might  have  been  as  safely  solem- 
nised at  Margate.  On  the  lady's  side,  the  property  was 
strictly  personal.  Her  claim  upon  the  estates  of  the 
defunct  Field- Marshal  was  never  since  established,  for 
the  properties  of  that  distinguished  commander  could 
never  be  localised.  Marc  Antony  had  been  a  borrower 
from  the  first  hour  of  our  intimacy  ;  and  on  the  morning 
of  her  marriage,  Drusilla,  I  have  reason  to  believe, 
was  not  mistress  of  ten  pounds — but  then,  she  was  a 
treasure  in  herself,  and  so  swore  Marc  Antony. 

"  The  private  history  of  a  honeymoon  I  leave  to  be 
narrated  by  those  who  have  found  that  haven  of  bliss 
which  I  had  pictured  but  never  realised.  If  racketing 
night  and  day  over  every  quarter  of  the  metropolis, 
with  the  thermometer  steady  at  90  ;  if  skirmishing  from 
Kensington  to  the  Haymarket,  and  thence  to  Astley's 
and  Vauxhall,with  frequent  excursions  to  those  suburban 
hotels  infested  by  high-spirited  apprentices,  '  and  maids 


310  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

who  love  the  moon  :  ' — if  this  be  pleasure,  1  had  no 
reason  to  repine.  In  these  ajffairs  '  our  loving  cousin  ' 
was  an  absolute  dictator,  and  against  his  decrees  there  was 
no  appeal.  To  me,  a  quiet  and  nervous  gentleman, 
Marc's  arrangements  were  detestable.  What  he  called 
life,  was  death  to  me — his  ideas  of  pleasure  were  formed 
on  the  keep-moving  plan — and  to  sleep  a  second  night 
in  the  same  place,  would  be,  according  to  his  theories, 
an  atrocity.  I  found  myself  sinking  under  this  excessive 
happiness  ;  and  when  I  ventured  a  gentle  protest  against 
being  whirled  off  in  a  thunder-storm  from  the  '  Star  and 
Garter  '  to  the  *  Greyhound,'  I  received  a  cross-fire 
that  silenced  me  effectually.  From  that  period  I  sub- 
mitted without  a  murmur  ;  my  days  were  numbered  ; 
another  month  like  that  entitled  the  honey-one,  would 
consign  me  to  my  fathers  ;  the  last  of  the  Dawkinses 
would  vanish  from  among  men,  and  a  mural  monument 
in  St.  Saviour's  record  my  years  and  virtues.  But 
accident  saved  my  life,  though  it  annihilated  my  property 
"  Years  before  I  led  Drusilla  to  the  altar,  a  Connemara 
estate,  which  had  belonged  to  her  progenitors,  and  had 
been  ruined  in  succession  by  the  respective  lords,  was 
utterly  demolished  by  a  gentleman  whom  she  termed 
her  '  lamented  father.'  The  property  had  been  in 
chancery  for  half  a  century,  and  advertised  for  sale 
beyond  the  memory  of  man  ;  but  as  it  was  overloaded 
with  every  species  of  encumbrance,  no  one  in  his  senses 
would  have  accepted  the  fee  simple  as  a  gift.  But  my 
wife  had  determined  that  Castle  Toole  should  be 
redeemed,  and  rise  once  more,  Phcenix-like,  from  its 
embarrassments.  It  owed,  she  admitted,  more  than  it 
was  worth,  twice  told — but  then,  sure,  it  was  the  family 
property.     There,  for  four  centuries,  O'Tooles  had  died, 


NOT   THE  MAN    FOR    GALWAY.  3II 

and  O'Shaughnesseys  been  born  ;  and  if  she  could 
only  persuade  me  to  repurchase  it  with  my  wealth, 
she  would  be  the  first  lady  in  the  barony.  To  Marc 
Antony  this  project  was  enchanting.  Ballybroney  had 
been  roofless  for  the  last  twenty  years,  that  being  about 
the  period  when  the  last  of  the  *  dirty  acres,'  which  had 
once  appertained  to  the  mansion,  had  slipped  from  the 
fingers  of  the  Bodkins  ;  therefore,  to  establish  himself 
at  Castle  Toole,  would  suit  my  kinsman  to  a  hair.  In 
short,  the  battery  was  unmasked  ;  and  whether  over- 
persuaded  by  the  eloquence  of  my  wife,  the  arguments 
of  her  cousin,  or  driven  to  desperation  by  a  Ufe  of 
pleasure,  I  consented  in  due  time  ;  and  having 
accompanied  my  honoured  counsellors  to  Dublin, 
found  no  competitor  for  Castle  Toole — proposed  for 
the  same — paid  a  large  sum  of  money,  and  was  declared, 
by  the  legal  functionaries,  a  gentleman  of  estate,  and  that, 
too,  in  Connemara. 

*'  In  my  eyes,  the  value  of  the  purchase  was  not 
enhanced  by  a  personal  investigation.  It  had  its 
capabilities,  it  is  true  ;  the  house  being  a  ruin,  might  be 
repaired  ;  and  as  the  lands  were  in  their  primeval  state, 
it  was  possible  to  reclaim  them.  Still,  when  one  looked 
at  a  huge,  dismantled  building  of  that  mixed  class  in 
architecture  between  a  fortahce  and  a  dwellinghouse, 
with  grey-flagged  roof,  lofty  chimneys,  embattled 
parapets,  and  glassless  windows,  it  was  ill-calculated 
to  encourage  an  English  speculator  in  Irish  estates. 
On  every  side  a  boundless  expanse  of  barren  moorland 
was  visible,  with  an  insulated  portion  of  green  surface 
on  which  the  castle  stood,  and  a  few  straggling  trees 
remained  from  what  had  once  been  a  noble  oak  wood. 
That  some  savage  beauty  did  exist  in  the  wild  highlands, 


312  WILD  SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

a  fine  river,  and  an  extensive  lake,  is  certain  ;  but  to  me, 
the  scenery  and  the  place  were  dreary  and  disheartening. 
In  vain,  therefore,  did  my  friend  Marc  Antony  dilate 
upon  its  advantages.  The  river  boasted  the  best 
salmon  fishing  in  the  country.  What  was  it  to  me 
who  had  never  angled  for  a  gudgeon  ?  The  mountains 
abounded  with  grouse — who  but  a  native  could  escalade 
them  ?  The  bogs  were  celebrated  for  game— and 
would  I  devote  myself,  like  another  Decius,  to  be 
engulfed,  for  all  the  wild  ducks  that  ever  wore  a  wing  ? 
But  then,  The  Blazers  were  only  a  few  miles  distant, 
and  their  favourite  fixture  was  on  the  estate.  Really, 
the  proximity  of  that  redoubted  body  produced  a  cold 
perspiration  when  I  heard  it.  The  Blazers  !  the  most 
sanguinary  fox-club  in  Connaught — a  gang  who  would 
literally  devastate  the  country,  if  it  did  not  please 
Heaven  to  thin  their  numbers  annually  by  broken  necks 
and  accidents  from  pistol  bullets.  Yet,  with  me,  the 
Rubicon  was  crossed — Castle  Toole  was  mine  with  all 
its  imperfections,  and  I  determined  to  exert  my 
philosophy  to  endure  what  it  was  impossible  to  undo. 

**  To  restore  the  decayed  glories  of  the  mansion,  you 
may  well  imagine  was  a  work  of  trouble  and  expense. 
It  was  done,  and  Drusilla  slept  again  under  the  roof- tree 
of  her  progenitors.  Hitherto  I  had  indulged  her  fancies 
without  murmuring,  and  some  of  them  were  superlatively 
absurd.  I  hoped  and  believed  that  when  the  hurry  of 
re-establishing  the  ruin  I  had  been  fool  enough  to 
purchase  was  over,  the  worry  and  confusion  of  my 
unhappy  life  would  terminate.  While  the  repairs 
proceeded,  we  resided  in  a  small  house  in  a  neighbouring 
village,  and  were  not  much  annoyed  by  unwelcome 
visitors.     But  no  sooner  was  the  castle  completed,  and 


NOT  THE  MAN  FOR   GALWAY.  313 

the  apartments  reported  habitable,  than  the  country  for 
fifty  miles  round  complotted,  as  I  verily  beUeve,  to 
inundate  us  with  their  company.  A  sort  of  saturnalia y 
called  the  house-warming,  I  thought  destined  to  continue 
for  ever  ;  and  after  having  endured  a  purgatorial  state 
for  several  weeks,  and  the  tumult  and  vulgar  dissipation 
had  abated,  swarms  of  relations  to  the  third  and  fourth 
generation  of  those  that  loved  us,  kept  dropping  in, 
in  what  they  termed  the  quiet,  friendly  way,  until  '  the 
good  house  Money-glass  '*  was  outstripped  in  hospitality 
by  my  devoted  mansion.  Although  ten  long  miles 
from  a  post-town,  we  were  never  secure  from  an  inroad. 
Men  who  bore  the  most  remote  affinity  to  the  families 
of  O'Shaughnessey  or  O'Toole,  deserted  the  corners 
of  the  earth  to  spoliate  the  larder  ;  and  persons  who, 
during  the  course  of  their  natural  lives,  had  never  before 
touched  fishing-rod  or  fowling  piece,  now  borrowed 
them  *  for  the  nonce,'  and  deemed  it  a  good  and  sufficient 
apology  for  living  on  me  for  a  fortnight  Pedlars 
abandoned  their  accustomed  routes  ;  friars  diverged 
a  score  of  miles  to  take  us  on  *  the  mission  ;  '  pipers 
infested  the  premises  ;  and  even  deserters  honoured 
me  with  a  passing  call,  *  for  the  house  had  such  a  name.' 
All  and  every  calculated  on  that  cursed  ceade  jealteagh. 
An  eternal  stream  of  the  idle  and  dissipated  filled  the 
house — ^the  kitchen  fire,  like  the  flame  of  Vesta,  was 
never  permitted  to  subside — and  a  host  of  locusts 
devoured   my   property.     1   lived   and   submitted,   and 

*  This  once  celebrated  mansion  is  immortalized  in  the  old  ballad 
called  "  Bumper  Squire  Jones,"  which  chronicles  the  princely- 
hospitalities  of  that  puissant  and  hard-headed  family.  lyike  "  the 
Kilruddery  Foxchase,"  it  was  a  mighty  favourite  with  the  stout  old 
sportsmen  in  those  merry  days.  More  popular  airs  have  caused  these 
popular  and  soul-stirring  lyrics  to  be  disused,  and,  Uke  those  whose 
feats  they  recounted,  they  are  now  almost  forgotten. 


314  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

yet  had  the  consolation  to  know  that  I  was  the  most 
unpopular  being  in  the  province.  I  was  usually 
described  as  a  '  dry  devil,'  or  a  *  dark*  dirty,  Httle  man; ' 
while  upon  Drusilla  blessings  rained, and  she  was  admitted 
to  be  '  the  best  sowl  that  ever  laid  leg  below  mahogany  ! ' 
"  I  was  weary  of  this  state.  Marc  Antony  was  in 
regular  possession  of  an  apartment,  which  was  duly 
termed  by  the  servants  '  Mr.  Bodkin's  room.'  Summer 
passed,  and  so  did  autumn  and  its  host  of  grouse  shooters. 
I  foolishly  hoped  that,  considering  the  locaHty  of  Castle 
Toole,  my  locusts  would  banish  with  the  butterflies  ; 
but  the  only  difference  a  rainy  day  made  was,  that  the 
visitor  who  arrived  never  dreamed  of  departing  till  the 
morrow,  and  the  numbers  by  no  means  abated.  Some 
heavy  bills  came  in,  and  I  seized  that  opportunity  of 
remonstrating  with  Drusilla.  I  told  her  my  health  was 
breaking,  my  fortune  unequal  to  my  expenses  ;  that 
common  prudence  required  a  certain  limitation  to  our 
irregular  hospitality  ;  hinted  that,  though  an  occasional 
visit  from  Mr.  Marc  Antony  Bodkin  would  be  agreeable, 
yet  that  an  everlasting  abode  would  rather  be  a  bore. 
I  would  have  continued,  but  my  lady  had  Ustened,  she 
thought,  too  long  already.  She  fired  at  the  very  idea 
of  retrenchment  ;  and  as  to  Mr.  Marc  Antony  Bodkin, 
we  were,  it  appeared,  too  much  honoured  by  his  society. 
He,  a  third  cousin  of  Clanricarde,  condescended  to 
take  my  place,  and  entertain  my  company.  He  rode  my 
horses  and  drank  my  wine,  neither  of  which  feats,  as 
she  opined,  nature  had  designed  me  for  doing  in  proper 
person  ;  in  short,  by  Herculean  efforts  on  his  part,  he 
enabled  me  to  hold  my  place  among  gentlemen.     As 

*  "  Dark,"   in   the   kingdom  of   Connaught,   is   frequently   used 
synonymously  with  "  unsocial." 


NOT  THE   MAN   FOR   GALWAY.  315 

to  the  paltry  consideration  of  his  residence,  what  was 
it  ?  *  God  be  with  the  time,  when,'  as  her  '  lamented 
father  *  said,  *  a  stranger  remained  for  eighteen  months 
in  Castle  Toole,  and  would  probably  have  lived  and  died 
there,  but  that  his  wife  discovered  him,  and  forced  the 
truant  to  abdicate  ;  and  yet,'  she  added,  proudly,  '  none 
could  tell  whether  he  was  from  Wales  or  Enniskillen  ; 
and  some  believed  his  name  was  Hamerton,  while  others 
asserted  it  was  Mackintosh.  But,'  as  she  concluded, 
'  when  her  kinsman,  Mr,  Bodkin,  was  turned  out,  it 
was  time  for  her  to  provide  a  residence,'  and  she  flung 
from  the  room  like  a  Bacchante,  making  door  and  window 
shiver. 

'*  Well,  Sir,  you  may  pity  or  despise  me  as  you  will  ; 
from  that  day  my  wife  assumed  the  absolute  mastery 
and  I  calmly  submitted.  The  house  was  now  a  scene 
of  wild  and  unrestricted  extravagance.  Tenants  ran 
away,  cattle  were  depreciated,  and  worse  still,  claims 
made  upon  the  property  that  had  never  been  foreseen, 
and  in  nine  months  I  was  engaged  in  as  many  lawsuits. 
I  must  have  sunk  beneath  these  calamities,  but  a  domestic 
event  gave  a  new  turn  to  my  hopes.  No  heir  had  yet 
been  promised,  when  happily,  it  was  whispered  that 
this  blessing  was  not  an  impossibihty.  Day  after  day 
confirmed  the  happy  news,  till  at  last  it  was  regularly 
announced  in  the  *  Connaught  Journal  that  Mrs. 
Dawkins,  of  Castle  Toole,  was  *  as  ladies  wish  to  be  who 
love  their  lords.' 

"  Of  course,  from  that  moment  any  contradiction 
would  have  been  death  to  my  dear  Drusilla.  She  never 
reigned  lady-paramount  till  now,  and  her  will  was 
absolute.  Relatives  trooped  down  in  scores,  and  Marc 
Antony  was   doubly  cherished.      Notwithstanding   my 


3l6  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

nerves  thrilled  at  their  arrival,  the  Blazers  were  honourably 
feasted  ;  and,  at  the  especial  request  of  Mrs.  Dawkins, 
on  that  occasion  I  determined  to  make  a  character. 
I  really  was  half  a  hero  ;  presided  at  the  head  of  my 
own  table  like  its  master,  gave  divers  bumper  toasts, 
and  sat  out  the  evening,  until  I  was  fairly  hors  de  combat, 
and  tumbled  from  the  chair.  Drunk  as  I  was,  I 
recollected  clearly  all  that  passed.  As  but  a  couple 
of  bottles  a  man  had  been  then  discussed,  my  early 
fall  appeared  to  create  a  sensation.  '  Is  it  a  fit  he  has  ?  * 
inquired  an  under-sized  gentleman  with  an  efflorescent 
nose,  who  had  been  pointed  out  to  me  as  a  six-bottle 
customer.  *  Phoo  !  '  repUed  my  loving  cousin,  *  the 
man  has  no  more  bottom  than  a  chicken.  Lift  him  ; 
he  has  a  good  heart,  but  a  weak  head.  He'll  never  do  for 
Galway  !  But  come,  lads,'  and  Marc  hopped  over  my 
body,  as  I  was  being  taken  up  by  the  servants,  *  I'll 
give  you  that  top-sawyer y  his  wife,  and  long  may  she 
.wear  the  breeches  1 '  It  was  gratifying  to  find  that  the 
toast  was  generally  admired,  for  the  very  attendants 
that  '  bore  the  corpse  along,'  stopped  at  the  door,  and 
shouted  *  hip,  hip,  hurra  !  '  from  the  staircase. 

"  Every  day  from  this  period  I  became  more  unhappy 
and  contemptible.  My  blue-stocking  aunt,  who,  for 
reasons  unnecessary  to  explain,  had  been,  since  my 
marriage  totally  estranged,  was  now  officially  informed, 
that  the  name  of  Dawkins  would  be  continued.  She  had 
the  true  leven  of  family  affection  in  her,  and  my  past 
neglect  was  pardoned,  and  the  kindest  letter  returned 
to  my  communication.  One  passage  of  her  epistle 
ran  thus — '  Though  I  felt  acutely  at  your  selecting  a 
wife  without  even  consulting  one  of  whose  attachment 
you  must  be  well  convinced,   I  forgive  all,  from  the 


NOT  THE  MAN  FOR  GALWAY.  317 

personal  description  you  give  of  your  consort.  May 
the  heir  of  our  line  be  like  his  mother,  is  my  prayer  ! 
For,  oh,  Daniel,  my  predilection  for  dark  beauty  is  the 
same,  and  my  conviction  unalterable,  that  even 

"  Genius  a  dead  loss  is, 

With  dark  brows  and  long  proboscis." 

'*  Poor  woman  !  no  wonder  she  thus  considered  : 
a  sergeant  in  the  Guards,  with  a  countenance  of  the  true 
Kemble  character,  had,  in  early  life,  almost  turned  her 
brain  ;  and  Tooley  Street  was  kept  in  an  uproar,  until 
he  was  fortunately  drafted  off  to  join  the  Duke  of  York 
upon  the  Continent,  and  there,  in  due  time,  rested  in 
the  bed  of  glory. 

"It  is  a  lamentable  thing  for  a  man  of  sensibility 
to  wed  a  woman  whose  conduct  he  considers  irreconcilable 
to  his  ideas  of  what  female  delicacy  demands — and 
such  was  my  case.  Drusilla  not  only  assumed  the 
mastery  within  doors,  but  she  extended  her  sway  to  the 
farm  and  the  horses.  One  day,  at  the  head  of  a  hundred 
paupers,  she  was  planting  trees  ;  the  next,  with  Marc 
Antony  Bodkin,  making  a  radical  reform  in  the  stables. 
On  these  occasions,  arrayed  in  a  man's  hat,  with  her 
limbs  cased  in  Hessian  boots,  she  looked,  as  Tom  the 
Devil  said,  '  blasted  knowing.'  1  occasionally  was 
permitted  to  attend,  as  a  sort  of  travelling  conveniency 
to  hang  her  cloak  upon  ;  and  1  never  returned  without 
some  indignity  from  strangers,  or  personal  disrespect 
from  herself.  It  was  death  to  me  to  hear  her  addressed 
in  the  coarse  language  of  the  stable,  and  allusions  made 
to  her  altered  figure,  which  appeared  too  vulgar  even  for 
the  servants*  hall  ;  and  when  a  fellow  of  forbidding 
countenance,  with  a  scarlet  coat  and  white  unmentionables 
whom   the   rest   of   the   gang   distinguished    as    '  Long 


3l8  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST 

Lanty,'  crooked  up  the  bottom  of  her  dress  with  his 
hunting  whip,  exclaiming,  '  Bone  and  sinew,  by  the  holy  ! 
what  a  leg  for  a  boot !  *  1  could  have  knocked  the 
ruffian  down,  had  I  been  able,  although  for  the  exploit 
I  should  be  taxed  with  my  false  delicacy,  and  the  usual 
wind-up,  '  It  will  never  do  for  Galway  !  ' 

'*  Shy  from  my  cradle,  and  accustomed  to  city 
formality,  I  was  not  likely  to  become  at  once  inhabited 
to  Irish  manners.  But  in  Connaught  there  was  a  laxity 
of  form — a  free-and-easy  system  of  society,  that  exceeded 
all  belief,  and  to  a  distant  person  like  me,  was  intolerable. 
People  on  a  half -hour's  acquaintance  called  you  by 
your  Christian  name  ;  and  men,  whom  you  had  never 
even  heard  of,  rode  to  your  door,  and  told  you  coolly 
they  *  would  stay  a  fortnight.'  Introductions  in 
Connemara,  I  believe  are  reckoned  among  the  works 
of  supererogation.  If  I  took  a  quiet  ride,  expecting 
upon  my  return  to  meet  none  at  dinner  but  my  wife 
and  the  eternal  Marc  Antony,  I  probably  found  half 
a  score  already  seated  at  the  table,  and  might  learn  the 
appellatives  of  perhaps  a  couple  of  the  gang,  by  the 
announcement  of  *  Mr.  Dawkins,  Tom  the  Devil/ 
*  Mr.  Dawkins,  Smashall  Sweeney.' 

"  I  remember  upon  the  day  on  which  I  was  so  fortunate 
as  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  above  gentlemen, 
in  the  course  of  the  evening  they  differed  about  the 
colour  of  a  race-horse,  and,  after  bandying  mutual 
civilities,  concluded  by  interchanging  the  lie  direct  and 
a  full  decanter.  The  latter  having  grazed  my  head, 
induced  me  to  abscond  immediately ;  and  when  I 
recorded  to  my  loving  helpmate  the  narrow  escape 
from  demolition  I  had  just  experienced,  instead  of 
tender  alarm  and  connubial  sympathy,  her  countenance 


NOT    THE  MAN  FOR   GALWAY.  319 

betrayed  irrepressible  disappointment  and  surprise. 
*  And  have  you,  Mr.  Dawkins,  really  deserted  your 
company,  and  that,  too,  at  a  period  when  two  gentlemen 
had  disagreed  ?  Do  return  immediately.  Such  in- 
hospitality,  I  assure  you,  will  never  do  for  Galway! 
I  did  return  ;  but  I  had  my  revenge,  and  dearly  it 
cost  me,  though  neither  of  the  rascals  were  shot  upon 
my  lawn.  Smashall  rode  off  my  lady's  favourite  mare 
in  mistake,  and  sent  her  back  next  morning  with  a  pair 
of  broken  knees — and  Tom  the  Devil  set  fire  to  his  bed- 
curtains  the  same  night,  and  nothing  but  a  miracle  saved 
the  house.  Everything  in  the  apartment,  however, 
was  consumed  or  rendered  unserviceable. 

**  As  I  became  more  intimate  with  my  wife's  relatives, 
1  found  that  nothing  but  the  lamp  of  Aladdin  would 
meet  their  multifarious  demands.  Castle  Toole,  like 
the  cave  of  Adulam,  was  the  certain  refuge  of  all  gentlemen 
who  happened  to  be  in  debt  and  difficulty.  All  that  came 
here  were,  what  is  called  in  Connemara,  '  upon  the 
borrowing  hand  ;  '  and  when  the  sum  appeared  to  be 
too  large  to  be  forthcoming  in  cash,  nothing  could  be 
more  accommodating  in  their  overtures, — They  would 
make  my  acceptance  answer  ;  they  would  wish  it  at 
sixty-one  days  ;  but  //  it  obliged  me  particularly,  they 
could  contrive  to  extend  it  to  three  months.  It  was, 
of  course,  a  matter  of  mere  form  ;  it  would  be  regularly 
provided  for  ;  it  would,  *  upon  honour  !  '  If,  after 
all  this,  1  hesitated,  I  did  it  on  personal  responsibility  ; 
and  sooner  than  be  perforated  upon  my  own  lawn,  actually 
suffered  myself  to  be  made  liable  for  some  hundreds. 
When  I  complained  bitterly  of  these  spoliations  to  my 
wife,  I  received  the  usual  comfort, '  Dear  me,  how  narrow 
your  ideas  are  !      If  my  uncle  Ulic  had  asked  you  for 


320  WILD  SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

the  money,  it  would  have  been  a  different  affair.  And 
so,  all  he  wants  is  the  accommodation  of  your  name  ! 
Ah  !  if  my  *  lamented  father  '  was  alive,  how  would  he 
be  astonished  !  Many  a  time  he  and  poor  Ulic  assisted 
each  other.  Indeed,  the  dear  old  man  used  to  mention 
an  amusing  anecdote.  They  once  purchased  a  pipe 
of  port,  paid  for  it  with  a  two  months'  bill,  and  when  the 
time  expired,  the  wine  was  drunk,  and  the  note  protested. 
They  had  consumed  so  much  from  the  wood,  that  it 
was  not  worth  while  to  bottle  the  remainder.  Do, 
Mr.  Dawkins,  at  once  oblige  my  uncle  Ulic.  Get  rid 
of  these  narrow  ideas.  Believe  me,  they  will  never  do 
for  Galway! 

"  There  was  another  thing  that  added  to  my  miseries, 
and  yet  to  my  honoured  helpmate  it  was  a  subject  of 
unmeasured  pride.  It  so  happened  that  the  geographical 
position  of  my  ill-omened  estate  was  nearly  on  the 
boundaries  of  Galway  and  Mayo — counties  no  less 
remarkable  for  their  extent  than  the  truculent  disposition 
of  the  inhabitants.  From  time  immemorial  my  lawn 
was  the  chosen  fixture  for  determining  affairs  of  honour  ; 
and  hence,  more  blood  had  been  shed  there  than  on  any 
similar  spot  in  Christendom.  If  the  civil  authorities 
were  so  vmgentlemanly  as  to  interrupt  the  combatants, 
the  latter  merely  crossed  the  adjacent  bridge,  and  finished 
the  affair  to  their  satisfaction.  It  is  right,  however, 
to  say  that  the  magistracy  seldom  interfered  ;  and  tf 
a  functionary  was  forced  out  by  some  mean-spirited 
relative,  though  the  fears  of  the  Lord  Chancellor  might 
deter  him  from  refusing  his  intervention,  he  still  contrived 
to  miss  the  road,  cast  a  shoe,  be  run  away  with,  or  meet 
some  unhappy  casualty,  that  one  of  the  parties  might 
be  defunct,  and  the  survivor  in  a  place  of  safety,  before 


NOT  THE   MAN   FOR   GALWAY.  32 1 

he,  the  justice,  appeared  upon  the  battle-ground. 
Hence,  not  a  week  elapsed  but  my  nerves  were  tortured 
by  the  arrival  of  a  shooting- party ^  and  probably  further 
agonised  by  hearing  Mr.  Bodkin  hallooing  to  the  butler, 

*  Michael  {sotto  voce,)  devil  speed  ye,  Michael  \  the 
mistress  desires  ye  to  keep  back  dinner  till  the  gentlemen 
have  done,  and  to  present  her  compliments,  and  say, 
that  she  expects  the  company  of  the  survivor.* 

"  All  this  was  horrible  to  me  ;  in  the  evening  to  be 
suddenly  disturbed  with  pop  !  pop  !  and  an  outcry  ; 
or  awakened  before  daylight  by  my  lady's  maid  opening 
the  curtains  with  a  curtsey,  to  know  '  where  the  dead  men 
would  be  stritched.'  It  was,  moreover,  a  desperate 
tax  upon  my  finances  ;  vagabonds,  known  and  unknown, 
lay  for  weeks  together  in  my  house,  while  their  broken 
bones  were  being  re-united — not  a  month  passed  but 
there  was  some  dying  man  in  the  state-room — doctors 
came  and  went  as  regularly  as  the  post-boy — ^and  once 
in  each  quarter  the  coroner,*  if  he  had  any  luck, 
empanelled  a  jury  in  our  hall. 

"  Nor  were  we  less  tormented  with  the  Blazers.  We 
always  had  a  lame  horse  or  two  in  the  stables  ;  and  from 
the  time  cub-hunting  commenced,  till  the  season  ended, 
of  that  redoubted  community  who  hazard 

*  Neck  and  spine, 

Which  rural  gentlemen  call  sport  divine,* 

we  never  boasted  fewer  than  a  couple  on  the  sick-list. 
Once,  when  an  inquest  was  holding  in  the  house,  a  Blazer 
in  the  best  bed-room,  a  dying  earth-stopper  in  the  gate- 
house, and  four  disabled  horses,  '  at  rack  and  manger,' 
I  insinuated  what  a  nuisance  it  was  to  have  one's  house 

*  In   Conn  aught  this  useful  officer  is  paid  by  the  job,  and  the 
number  with  which  he  occasionally  debits  the  county  is  surprising. 

Y 


322  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

made  a  '  morgue,'  and  the  offices  an  hospital. — *  Do 
Mr.  Dawkins,  have  done,'  exclaimed  my  lady — '  If, 
you  have  no  humanity,  pray  conceal  it.  Believe  me, 
your  feelings  will  never  do  for  Galway.' 

''  But  Drusilla  had  her  reward.  What  though  we 
kept  a  lazaretto  for  lame  horses,  and  a  general  wakehouse 
for  gentlemen  of  honour  who  left  the  world  without 
sufficient  assets  to  procure  a  grave  ;  our  lights  were  not 
hidden,  nor  our  charities  unrecorded.  There  was  not 
a  man  shot,  or  an  arm  broken,  but  my  lady  wife  was 
dragged  neck  and  crop  into  the  columns  of  the  Connaught 
Journal — as,  for  example  : — 

"  '  The  late  Captain  Macnab. — Further  particulars. 

— When  the  lamented  gentleman  fell,  his  second,  Mr. 

Peter   Brannick,   raised   the   body   in   his   arms.    Life, 

however,  was  totally  extinct,  as  the  ball  had  fractured 

the  fifth  rib,  and  passed  directly  through  the  pericardium. 

In   its   transit,   the   fatal   bullet   shattered    a    portable 

tobacco-pipe,   which    the    deceased    invariably    carried 

in     his     right     waistcoat     pocket.       The     body      was 

immediately   removed   upon   a   door   to   Castle   Toole, 

where  every  attention  to  the  remains  of  a  gallant  soldier 

was    given    by    the    accomplished    mistress.     Indeed, 

it  is  but  right  to  say,  that  this  estimable  lady  superintended 

in  person  the  laying  out  of  the  corpse.     At  midnight 

three  friars   from   Ballyhownis,  and  a  number  of  the 

resident    clergy    attended,    and    a    solemn    high    Mass 

was  celebrated  in  the  great  hall.     The  reverend  gentlemen 

employed  upon  this  melancholy  occasion,  have  expressed 

their  deep  sense  of  the  urbanity  of  the  lady  of    the 

mansion. 

"  '  We  understand  that,   at  the   especial   request  of 
Mrs.  Dawkins,  the  body  will  remain  in  state  at  Castle 


NOT   THE    MAN   FOR    GALWAY.  323 

Toole,  until  it  is  removed  to  its  last  resting-place,  the 
family  burying-ground  at  Carrick  Nab.' — Connaught 
Journal. 

*'  *  The  friends  and  relatives  of  Mr.  Cornelius 
Coolaghan  will  be  delighted  to  hear  that  he  has  been 
pronounced  convalescent  by  Dr.  M'Greal.  A  mistake 
has  crept  into  the  papers,  stating  that  the  accident 
was  occasioned  by  his  grey  mare,  Miss  Magaraghan, 
falling  at  a  six  feet  wall.  The  fact  was  that  the  injury 
occurred  in  attempting  to  ride  in  and  out  of  the  pound 
of  Ballymacraken,  for  a  bet  of  ten  pounds.  As  the 
village  inn  was  not  deemed  sufficiently  quiet,  Mr.  C.  C. 
was  carried  to  the  hospitable  mansion  of  Castle  Toole. 
It  is  needless  to  add,  that  every  care  was  bestowed  upon 
the  sufferer  by  the  elegant  proprietress.  Indeed,  few 
of  the  gentler  sex  so  elegantly  combine  the  charms  and 
amiabilities  of  the  beautiful  Mrs.  Dawkins.' — Ibid. 

'*  Well,  sir,  I  submitted  to  my  fate  with  more  than 
mortal  fortitude.  I  saw  that  in  rashly  marrying  one 
in  taste,  feeling  and  sentiment  so  totally  my  opposite, 
I  had  wrecked  my  happiness  for  ever,  and  that  I  must 
submit.  My  pride  w^ould  sometimes  fire  at  the  slights 
I  suffered  from  my  very  underlings,  and  the  cool  contempt 
of  those  locusts  who  lived  only  upon  my  bounty.  I 
was  reduced  to  utter  dependency,  and  yet  I  never 
murmured  a  remonstrance.  Presently,  my  wife  took 
possession  of  my  banker's  book — yet  I  did  not  rebel — 
for  my  nerves  were  weak,  my  spirit  humble  ; — fate  made 
my  own  conduct  punish  me,  and  I  had  philosophy  to 
bear  it  patiently.  But  one  thing  reconciled  me  to  much 
misery — it  was  a  darling  hope — a  cherished  fancy — 
this  was  left  when  all  besides  had  fled,  and  I  clung  to  it 
with  the  tenacity  of  a  wretch  who  seizes  the    reed    to 


324 


WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 


support  him  while  he  drowns.  That  hope,  that  sole 
dependence,  was  in  my  unborn  child  ;  on  that  being, 
haply,  I  might  lavish  my  love  ; — and  when  nothing 
else  remained  on  earth  whereon  to  rest  my  affections, 
I  turned  to  a  visionary  thing,  a  creature  not  in  existence, 
as  an  object  on  which  to  fix  my  heart.  You  smile  ; 
but  ah,  sirs,  remember  I  had  not  nerves  and  feelings 
like  the  multitude.  I  am  a  poor  helpless  wretch,  unfitted 
to  withstand  the  villainy  of  mankind,  and  struggle  through 
a  world  where  the  boldest  will  often  blench,  and  the 
wisest  hold  their  course  with  difficulty." 

He  became  deeply  agitated,  and  though,  poor  fellow, 
I  had  laughed  heartily  at  the  faithful  picture  he  gave, 
in  the  course  of  his  narrative,  of  all  concerned,  I  could 
not  but  respect  his  griefs.     He  soon  continued — 

*•  At  times  I  felt  a  misgiving  in  my  bosom,  and  pangs 
of  jealousy  tormented  me.  I  saw  much  culpable 
familiarity  between  my  wife  and  her  relative  :  and  for 
some  trifling  cause,  she  and  I,  for  some  time  past,  had 
not  occupied  the  same  apartment.  Could  she  forget 
herself  and  me  so  far  ?  Oh,  no,  no,  she  could  not ! 
She  would  not  do  a  being  like  me,  who  submitted  to 
her  command,  and  sacrificed  everything  to  her  fancy, 
so  base,  so  cruel  an  injury  !  I  never  harmed  a  worm 
willingly  ;  and  surely  she  would  not  wrong  one  so 
totally  her  thrall — her  worshipper,  as  I  } 

'*  I  considered  that  between  the  parties  there  existed 
a  near  relationship,  and  natural  habits  and  early  intimacy 
might  warrant  what  was  certainly  indelicate,  but  still 
might  not  be  criminal.  God  help  me  !  At  times  my 
brain  burned — my  senses  were  almost  wandering, 
and  had  this  state  of  torture  long  continued,  I  must, 
ere  now,  have  been  the  inmate  of  a  madhouse. 


NOT    THE    MAN   FOR    GALVVAY.  325 

**  The  time  of  her  trial  came,  and  at  that  awful  hour, 
I  am  told,  women  like  to  have  their  husbands  near 
them,  for  those  they  love  can  sometimes  whisper  hope, 
and  rouse  the  drooping  courage  of  the  sufferer.  But 
I  was  specially  excluded  from  the  chamber  of  the 
patient,  although  constant  messages  passed  between 
the  lady  and  her  kinsman.  The  trial  ended  happily — 
a  boy  was  born — the  servants  flocked  round  me,  to 
offer  their  rude  congratulations  ;  but  the  nurse  cast  on 
me  such  a  look  of  mingled  pity  and  comtempt  as  almost 
struck  me  lifeless.  I  asked  affectionately  for  my  wife 
— I  inquired  tenderly  for  my  child.  '  It  is  a  fine  boy,* 
said  a  young,  wild,  light-hearted  creature,  the  housemaid  ; 
*  it  has  the  longest  legs  I  ever  saw  ;  and,  its  hair  is  as 
red sis  Lanty  Driscoll's  jacket.'  It  was  killing — murderous. 
Then  I  was  the  wretch  my  worst  fears  had  whispered, 
and  a  child  was  born — but  not  to  me.*' 

He  paused,  completely  overcome.  I  felt  my  eye 
moisten  at  the  deep,  though  simple,  pathos  of  the  story- 
teller. There  was  a  sorrow,  an  agony,  in  his  melancholy 
detail,  that  touched  the  heart  more  sensibly  than  calamities 
of  deeper  character  and  greater  men. 

After  a  short  pause,  he  thus  continued  : 
**  The  day,  the  most  eventful  of  my  life,  if  my 
wedding  one  be  excepted,  at  last  arrived,  and  had  it 
been  nominated  for  my  undergoing  the  extreme  penalty 
of  the  law,  it  could  not  have  brought  more  horror  with 
it.  I  felt  the  fulness  of  my  degradation.  I  was  a 
miserable  puppet,  obliged  to  pretend  a  blindness  to 
disgrace,  of  which  my  conviction  was  entire  ;  and, 
automaton  as  I  was  considered,  and  little  as  my  looks 
or  feelings  were  consulted,  the  deep  melancholy  of 
my  face  did  not  escape  my  conscience-stricken  partner. 


326  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST 

She  became  pale  and  agitated,  while  with  affected 
indifference  of  manner,  she  taxed  me  with  rudeness 
to  my  company,  and  more  especially  to  herself.  What 
would  the  world  say,  if  on  this  high  festival,  when  the 
heir  of  Castle  Toole  was  to  be  presented  to  his  relatives, 
I  should  appear  more  like  a  monk  at  a  death-wake  than  a 
happy  parent  ?  *  Lord  !  Mr.  Dawkins,  this  moping  is  so 
unmanly.  Here  will  be  the  O'Tooles  and  the 
O'Shaughnesseys,  Blakes  and  Burkes,  Bellews  and 
Bodkins  :  they  will  feel  it  a  personal  insult.  If  you 
encourage  these  humours,  I  assure  you,  Mr.  Dawkins, 
you  will  never  do  for  Galway.'  Before  this  jobation 
ended,  carriage- wheels  grated  on  the  gravel,  and  men, 
women,  and  children  commenced  and  continued  pouring 
in,  as  if  another  deluge  had  begun,  and  Castle  Toole 
was  an  ark  of  safety. 

"  While  the  house  was  crowded  within,  the  space 
before  it  appeared  to  be  in  the  possession  of  numerous 
banditti.  The  tenants,  of  course,  had  flocked  hither  to 
do  honour  to  the  christening.  For  their  refreshment 
a  beeve  was  roasted  whole,  and  beer  and  whisky 
lavishly  distributed.  I  never  saw  such  a  scene  of  waste 
and  drunkenness  before,  although  I  had  hitherto  believed 
that  my  residence  was  the  veriest  rack-rent  in  the  world. 
In  every  corner  pipers  played,  women  danced,  men 
drank,  and  swearing  and  love-making  was  awful.  There, 
while  dinner  was  being  served,  I  had  stolen  forth  to  vent 
my  agony  unnoticed.  I  am  not,  sirs,  gifted  with  that 
command  of  nerve  which  can  exhibit  hollow  smiles 
while  the  bosom  is  inly  bleeding.  To  affect  gaiety 
so  foreign  to  my  heart,  I  felt  would  break  it ;  but  the 
desperate  misery  that  I  endured  would  spur  the  dullest 
soul    to    madness.      I    viewed    the    rude    revelry    with 


NOT   THE  MAN   FOR    GALWAY.  327 

disgust.  1  was  the  master  of  the  feast,  but  the  savages 
barely  recognised  me.  Generally  they  spoke  in  their 
native  language  ;  and  though  1  did  not  exactly 
comprehend  all  that  they  said,  I  heard  enough  to  assure 
me  of  my  utter  insignificance  in  their  rude  estimate  of 
character.  Under  a  gate-pier  two  old  women  were 
sitting  ;  they  did  not  notice  me,  and  continued  their 
discourse. 

**  '  Ally,  asthore,  did  ye  see  the  child  ?  They  say  it's 
the  picture  of  Marc  Bodkin.' 

*'  '  Whisht,  ye  divil !  '  was  the  rejoinder,  as  the  crone 
proceeded,  with  a  chuckle  ;  '  it  has  red  hair,  any 
how :  but  Neil  an  skil  a  gau  maun,*  and  ye  know 
best.' 

**  But  the  further  humiliation  of  assisting  at  the 
ceremony  was  saved  me.  In  the  hurry  consequent 
upon  the  general  confusion,  the  post-bag  was  handed 
to  me  instead  of  my  lady-wife,  who  lately  had  managed 
all  correspondence.  Mechanically  I  opened  the  bag, 
and  a  letter,  bearing  the  well-known  direction  of  my 
aunt,  met  my  eye.  That,  under  circumstances,  it 
should  have  reached  me,  appeared  miraculous,  and, 
seizing  an  opportunity,  J  examined  its  contents  in 
private.  My  kind  relation  had  received  my  detail  of  misery, 
and,  in  reply,  she  implored  me  to  abandon  the  scene  of 
my  degradation,  and  share  her  fortune,  which  was  more, 
she  said,  than  sufficient  for  us  both.  My  heart  beat  with 
conflicting  emotions — all  unworthy  as  she  was,  I  could 
not  bring  myself  to  abandon  Drusilla  thus.  1  actually 
hesitated,    when    curiosity    prompted    me   to   peruse   a 

*  Anglice,  "  1  have  no  skill  m  it." 


328  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST 

letter  which  was  addressed  to  her,  and  marked  immediate. 
Its  contents  were  these  : — 

"  *  Dear  Madam, 

'*  *  I  have  by  this  post  received  the  two  writs,  as 
expected.  1  settled  the  Ex.  against  Mr.  M.  A.  B.,  and 
he  may  come  to  town  any  time  till  further  notice.  With 
respect  to  those  against  Mr.  Dawkins,  it  is  as  well  to 
let  things  take  their  course.  He  is  a  gentleman  of 
retired  habits,  and  a  little  confinement,  particularly  as 
he  dont  hunt,  will  be  quite  immaterial.  I  received  the 
bullocks,  but,  as  cattle  are  down,  there  is  still  a  balance 
due. 

**  '  A  Dublin  wine-merchant  has  just  handed  me  an 
Ex.  lor  j£6i3,and  insists  upon  accompanying  me  to  Castle 
Toole  I  have  therefore  named  Wednesday,  on  which 
day  you  will  please  to  have  the  doors  closed.  As  the 
plaintiff  may  again  be  officious,  I  would  recommend 
his  being  ducked,  when  returning,  and  a  city  bailiff, 
whom  you  will  know  by  his  having  a  scorbutic  face 
and  yellow  waistcoat,  should,  for  many  reasons,  be 
corrected.  Pray,  however,  take  care  the  hoys  do  not 
go  too  far,  as  manslaughter,  under  the  late  act,  is  now 
a  transportable  felony. 

"  *  The  sooner  Mr.  D.  renders  to  prison  the  better. 
Tell  your  Uncle  Ulic  I  have  returned  non  est  to  his 
three  last;  but  he  must  not  show.  You  can  drop  me 
a  line  by  bearer  when  you  wish  Mr.  D.  to  be  arrested  ; 
and  after  we  return  nulla  bona  on  Wednesday,  I  will 
come  out  and  arrange  matters  generally. 

**  *  Believe  me,  dear  Madam,  truly  yours, 

"  *  John  Grady,  Sub-sheriff,  Galway. 

"  '  Mrs.  Dawkins,  Castle  Toole.' 


NOT  THE   MAN   FOR   GALWAY.  329 


it  t 


P.S.  What  a  blessing  it  is  for  poor  Mr.  Dawkins 
that  he  has  such  a  woman  of  business  to  manage  his 
affairs!  He  is  a  well-meaning  man,  but  he'll  never  do 
for  Galway, 

"  '  J.  G.' 

"  Had  I  been  ten  times  over  the  tame  wretch  I  was, 
I  could  not  be  insensible  to  the  deep  treachery  of  this 
worthless  woman,  who  had  ruined  my  property,  and 
would  now  incarcerate  my  person.  In  spite  of 
remonstrances  upon  its  apparent  inhospitality,  I 
abandoned  the  *  impious  feast,'  and  while  my  absence 
was  neither  missed  nor  regarded,  I  stole  from  the 
accursed  spot,  and  by  bribing  a  wandering  stocking-man, 
was  enabled  to  make  my  way  to  the  coast,  and  procure 
a  fishing-boat  to  place  myself  beyond  the  power  of 
arrest.  The  same  bad  luck  appeared  to  follow  me  : 
The  drunkenness  of  the  scoundrels  threatened  to 
interrupt  my  escape,  and  even  place  my  life  in  peril. 
From  these  mishaps  you  have  delivered  me,  and  by  your 
prompt  assistance  I  shall  affect  my  retreat  from  a 
country  I  must  ever  recollect  with  horror.  When  I 
reach  England,  I  will  seek  reparation  for  my  injuries  ; 
and  though  all  besides  is  gone,  I  shall  at  least  endeavour 
to  liberate  myself  from  the  worthless  woman  who 
abused  a  weak  and  too  confiding  husband. 

"  Alas  !  gentlemen,  what  a  stream  of  misfortunes 
will  sometimes  originate  in  a  trifle.  A  Margate  steamer 
entailed  a  life  of  suffering  upon  me.  My  fortune 
vanished,  my  wife  deceived  me — laughed  at  by  my 
friends,  and  ridiculed  by  my  enemies — ^from  all  these 
complicated  misfortunes,  I  have  learned  but  one  simple 
fact — Alas  !    '  That  I  should  never  do  for  Galway  I  '  " 


330  WILD   &PORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 


I  SLEPT  Roundly  :  my  servant  found  me  still  a-bed 
when  he  came  at  his  customary  hour  ;  as  he  unclosed 
the  curtains  I  heard  a  hum  of  voices,  and  appearances 
of  domestic  hurry  were  visible  ;  next  moment  the  well- 
known  Currakeen,  whose  celebrity  as  a  courier  is  truly 
remarkable,  passed  the  window  at  a  **  killing-pace." 
I  found,  upon  inquiry,  that  the  otter-killer  was  dying, 
and  that  "  the  runner  "  I  had  just  observed,  had  been 
dispatched  for  Father  Andrew. 

The  ancient  retainer  of  an  Irish  family  generally 
establishes  a  bond  upon  the  affections  of  the  wild  house- 
hold, that  causes  his  loss  to  make  a  greater  sensation 
than  so  humble  an  event  might  be  supposed  to  occasion. 
Antony,  for  half  a  century  had  been  attached  to  this 
family.  Three  generations  have  passed  since  he  first 
settled  beneath  the  roof-tree  ;  and  he  has  been  asso- 
ciated with  every  earlier  recollection  of  the  present 
master.  No  wonder  I  found  my  kinsman  in  con- 
siderable distress.  The  old  man  was  dying — and 
youthful  scenes,  and  youthful  days,  when  the  stormier 
passions  had  not  broken  "  the  sunshine  of  the  breast," 
were  now  vividly  recalled  by  the  approaching  dissolution 
of  his  ancient  and  devoted  follower. 

The  summons  to  the  Priest  was  instantly  attended, — 
Father  Andrew  returned  with  the  messenger,  and  was 
immediately  closeted  with  the  penitent.  Poor  Antony's 
simple  life  had  few  dark  recollections  to  harrow  his 
parting  hour.  His  shrift  was  short  and  satisfactory  ; 
and  at  his  own  request,  when  the  rites  of  the  Roman 


DEATH   OF   THE   OTTER-KILLER.  33 1 

Catholic  Church  had  been  duly  celebrated,  my  cousin 
and  myself  were  summoned  to  his  bedside. 

The  old  man  was  supported  by  Hennessey,  as  a 
difficulty  in  breathing  obliged  him  to  be  raised  up  ; 
and  the  scene  was  at  once  simple  and  imposing.  The 
early  monitor  of  his  youthful  fishing-days — the  being 
who  had  in  mountain  pastimes  been  so  frequently  his 
companion,  possibly  recalled  softer  recollections,  and 
a  deep  shade  of  sorrow  overspread  the  countenance  of 
the  "  stern  homicide."  The  black-eyed  girl,  who  held 
a  teaspoon  to  his  lips,  vainly  endeavouring  to  introduce 
some  nourishment,  wept  over  him  like  a  lamenting 
child.  His  faithful  terrier  sat  at  the  bed-foot,  and  the 
fixed  and  melancholy  look  that  the  poor  animal  turned 
on  her  dying  master,  would  have  half  persuaded  me 
that  Venom  knew  she  was  about  to  lose  him.  Dim  as 
his  eye  was,  it  lighted  as  my  kinsman's  tall  figure 
darkened  the  entrance  of  the  chamber  ;  and  feebly 
putting  forth  his  hand,  he  clasped  that  of  his  beloved 
master  with  affection,  and  while  weakness  and  imperfect 
breathing  sadly  interrupted  his  *'  last  farewell,"  we 
could  with  some  difficulty  thus  collect  his  words. 

**  I'm  going.  Master  Julius,  and  may  the  blessing  of 
the  Almighty  attend  ye  !  Sure,  I  should  be  thankful, 
with  all  about  me  to  make  me  easy  to  the  last.  I  saw 
your  grandfather  stretched — I  sat  beside  your  father 
when  he  departed,  may  the  Lord  be  merciful  to  both  ! 
and  I  die  with  yourself  and  the  clargy  to  comfort  my  last 
hour,  praises  be  to  Mary,  Master  Julius,  will  you  listen 
to  a  dying  man  ;  he  that  carried  ye  in  his  arms,  and 
loved  ye  better  than  all  the  world  besides  ? — ye '11  take 
my  advice.  Marry,  Julius  avourneen — ^the  ould  name 
that  since  the  days  of  Shamul  a  Croaghah  held  land  and 


332  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

honour — surely  you  won't  let  it  pass  ?  Mind  the  old 
man's  last  words — and  now  Heaven  bless  ye  !  "  And 
in  feeble  tones  he  continued  muttering  benedictions 
upon  all  around  him.  My  cousin  was  really  affected, 
and  the  Priest,  perceiving  the  increasing  feebleness 
of  the  otter-killer,  requested  us  to  retire.  We  were 
obeying,  when  Antony  rallied  suddenly  and  unex- 
pectedly : — "  You  will  mind  the  dog,  for  my  sake, 
Master  Julius — and  ye '11  let  trap  and  fishing-rod  hang 
up  in  the  hall,  to  put  ye  in  mind  of  old  Antony  ?  " 
These  were  his  last  connected  words — his  strength 
failed  fast ;  his  memory  wandered  to  other  times  ; 
"  he  babbled  of  green  fields,"  he  murmured  the  names 
of  lakes  and  rivers — and  while  the  affectionate  Priest 
prayed  fervently  beside  his  old  and  innocent  com- 
panion, the  otter-killer  rendered  his  last  sigh  in  the  arms 
of  Hennessey  and  the  weeping  Alice  ! 

Talk  of  parade  around  the  couch  of  fortune,  and 
what  a  heartless  display  is  it !  /  saw  a  rich  man  die  ; 
1  saw  the  hollow  mockery  of  hireling  attendants  and 
interested  friends  ;  but  here,  that  simple,  unsophisti- 
cated being  had  a  sincerity  of  grief  bestowed  upon  his 
death- bed,  that  to  wealth  and  grandeur  would  be  un- 
attainable ! 

There  was  a  loud  and  agonizing  burst  of  sorrow 
when  the  otter-killer's  death  was  communicated  to 
those  in  the  hall  and  kitchen,  who,  during  the  closing 
scene,  had  been  with  difficulty  prevented  from  crowding 
the  apartment  of  the  sufferer.  But  this  noisy  demon- 
stration of  regard  was  speedily  checked  by  old  John, 
who  knew  that  his  master  would  be  doubly  displeased 
should  any  tumultuary  wailings  render  me  uncomfortable. 

In    a    short   time,   order   was   tolerably   established  ; 


DEATH   OF  THE   OTTER-KILLER.  333 

and  with  one  exception,  a  quiet  and  respectful  silence 
supervened.  A  stout,  though  aged  crone,  occasionally 
burst  into  wild  lament,  accompanied  by  a  beating  on 
her  breast,  which,  like  the  signal  to  a  chorus,  elicited  a 
fresh  ebullition  from  the  subordinate  mourners.  John, 
however,  interposed  his  authority  effectually. — "  Bada- 
husty  hanamondioul,  badahust^  I  say  !  ye  may  keinagh 
at  the  funeral,  but  ye  mustn't  disturb  the  master  and 
the  company."  This  jobation  restored  tranquillity,  and 
in  "  decent  grief  *'  the  otter-killer's  corpse  was  duly 
laid  out  in  its  funeral  habiliments. 

The  evening  wore  on  heavily — my  kinsman  was 
sensibly  affected  ;  his  old  monitor  in  the  gentle  art  was 
gone  ;  and  though  full  in  years,  and  ripe  for  the  tomb, 
his  master  felt  that  **  he  could  have  better  spared  a 
better  man."  There  was  heart-sinking  about  our  party 
which  I  had  never  marked  before.  The  wine  had  lost 
its  charm  ;  and  while  the  Colonel  and  the  Priest  com- 
menced a  game  of  piquet,  my  cousin  ordered  the  gig, 
and  proposed  that  we  should  pull  over  to  the  herring- 
boats,  which,  in  the  next  estuary,  and  on  the  preceding 
night,  had  been  unusually  successful.  Accordingly, 
having  lighted  our  pipes  and  procured  our  boat-cloaks, 
we  left  the  pier-head  in  the  four-oared  galley. 

The  night  was  unusually  dark  and  warm  ;  not  a 
breath  of  wind  was  on  the  water  ;  the  noise  of  the  oars, 
springing  in  the  coppered  rowlocks,  was  heard  for  a 
mile  off,  and  the  whistle  of  sand-pipers  and  jack  curlews, 
as  they  took  wing  from  the  beach  we  skirted,  appeared 
unusually  shrill.  Other  noises  gradually  broke  the 
stillness  of  the  night — the  varied  hum  of  numerous 
voices  chanting  the  melancholy  songs  which  are  the 
especial   favourites   of  the    Irish,   began   to   be    heard 


334  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

distinctly — and  we  soon  bore  down  upon  the  midnight 
fishers  directed  by  sound,  not  sight. 

To  approach  the  fleet  was  a  task  of  some  difficulty. 
The  nets,  extended  in  interminable  lines,  were  so  fre- 
quent, that  much  skill  was  necessary  to  penetrate  this 
hempen  labyrinth  without  fouling  the  back  ropes. 
Warning  cries  directed  our  course,  and  with  some  delay 
we  threaded  the  crowded  surface,  and,  guided  by  buoys 
and  puckawns,  found  ourselves  in  the  very  centre  of 
the  flotilla. 

It  was  an  interesting  scene.  Momently  the  boats 
glided  along  the  back  ropes,  which  were  supported  at 
short  intervals  by  corks,  and  at  a  greater,  by  inflated 
dog-skins,  and,  raising  the  curtain  of  network  which 
these  suspended,  the  herrings  were  removed  from  the 
meshes,  and  deposited  in  the  boats.  Some  of  the  nets 
were  particularly  fortunate,  obliging  their  proprietors 
to  frequently  reHeve  them  of  the  fish  ;  while  others, 
though  apparently  stretched  within  a  few  yards,  and 
consequently  in  the  immediate  run  of  the  herrings, 
were  favoured  but  with  a  few  stragglers  ;  and  the  indo- 
lent fisherman  had  to  occupy  himself  with  a  sorrowful 
ditty,  or  in  moody  silence  watch  the  dark  sea  "  like 
some  dull  ghost  waiting  on  Styx  for  waftage." 

Our  visit  appeared  highly  satisfactory,  for  the  ceade 
fealteagh,  with  a  lament  for  "  ould  Antony,"  was  univer- 
sal, while  every  boat  tossed  herrings  on  board,  until 
we  were  obliged  to  refuse  further  largess,  and  these 
many  *'  trifles  of  fish  "  accumulated  so  rapidly,  that  we 
eventually  declined  receiving  further  compliments,  or 
we  might  have  loaded  the  gig  gunnel  deep. 

The  darkness  of  the  night  increased  the  scaly  bril- 
liancy which  the  phosphoric  properties  of  these  beautiful 


DEATH   OF   THE   OTTER- KILLER.  335 

fish  produce.  The  bottom  of  the  boat,  now  covered  with 
some  thousand  herrings,  glowed  with  a  living  light, 
which  the  imagination  could  not  create,  and  the  pencil 
never  imitate.  The  shades  of  gold  and  silvery  gems 
were  rich  beyond  description  ;  and  much  as  I  had  heard  of 
phosphoric  splendour  before,  every  idea  I  had  formed 
fell  infinitely  short  of  its  reality. 

The  same  care  with  which  we  entered  disembarrassed 
us  of  the  midnight  fishing  ;  every  boat  we  passed  pressed 
hard  to  throw  in  a  "  cast  of  skuddawns*  for  the  strange 
gentleman,"  meaning  me  ;  and  such  was  the  kindness 
of  these  hospitable  creatures,  that  had  I  been  a  very 
Behemoth  I  should  have  this  night  feasted  to  satiety 
on  their  bounty. 

The  wind,  which  had  been  asleep,  began  now  to  sigh 
over  the  surface,  and  before  we  had  cleared  the  outer 
back-ropes,  the  sea-breeze  came  curling  "  the  midnight 
wave."  The  tide  was  flowing  fast,  and  having  stepped 
the  mast,  we  spread  our  large  lug,  and  the  light  galley 
slipped  speedily  ashore.  A  fire  which  I  had  noticed 
above  the  Lodge  kindling  gradually,  fanned  by  the  rising 
night-breeze,  sprang  at  once  into  a  glorious  flame  ;  and 
through  the  darkness  its  intense  light  must  have  been  for 
many  leagues  discernible.  I  broke  my  cousin's  musing, 
to  ask  what  it  was. 

**  That,  my  friend,  is  one  of  our  ancient  customs  ; 
that  is  our  beal-fire.  It  is  lighted  to  notify  that  a  death 
has  occurred,  and  ere  long  you  will  see  it  answered 
by  some  of  our  friends  and  kindred.  Poor  old  man  ! 
none  deserved  it  better,  for  he  would  have  attended  religi- 
ously to  such  observances,  had  any  of  my  family  preceded 
him  to  the  grave.  He  lighted  my  father's  beal-fire,  and 
*  Anglice,  Herrings. 


336  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

possibly  kindled  that  of  my  grandsire  ;  old  John  has 
probably  performed  the  ceremony  for  him  :  thus  the 
kindlier  offices  are  continued,  and  '  thus  runs  the  word 
away.' — Who," — and  he  stopped,  evidently  embarrassed 
at  some  passing  thought — "  Who  shall  say  that  the  cere- 
monial bestowed  upon  the  wandering  otter-killer  may  not 
be  refused  to  the  last  descendant  of  a  line  of  centuries  !  " 

I  would  have  interrupted  these  melancholy  fore- 
bodings, but  just  then,  from  the  lofty  brow  of  an  inland 
hill,  which  I  had  frequently  observed  before,  a  light 
appeared,  first  faintly  struggling,  but  presently  redden- 
ing to  the  sight ;  and  two  fires  in  Achil,  in  a  time  of 
incredible  briefness,  flung  their  deep  glow  across  the 
waters,  and,  as  I  afterwards  remarked,  were  repeated 
for  miles  along  the  coast  and  high  grounds. 

The  rapidity  with  which  the  beal-fire  was  replied 
to,  evidently  pleased  my  kinsman's  family  vanity  ;  and 
with  higher  spirits,  we  watched  the  lights  tremble  in 
the  windows  of  the  Lodge,  until  these  Stella  minor es 
directed  our  voyage  to  its  termination. 

The  Colonel  and  his  companion  were  waiting  for  us 
on  the  pier  ;  they  insisted  on  adding  to  our  supper 
some  of  the  fish  which  we  had  brought  home — and 
while  this  was  being  done,  my  cousin  and  myself  entered 
the  wake,  to  pay  our  last  duties  to  the  departed  otter- 
killer. 

To  give  additional  iclat  to  his  funeral  rites,  the  corpse 
had  been  removed  to  the  barn,  which,  from  its  unusual 
size,  was  well-fitted  to  admit  the  numerous  mourners 
who  would  attend  the  ceremony.  Upon  a  rude  bier 
the  old  man  rested,  and  the  trap  and  fishing-rod  were, 
by  a  fancy  of  Hennessey,  placed  above  his  head.  The 
barn   was   filled,   but   immediate   room   was   made   for 


DEATH    OF   THE   OTTER-KILLER.  337 

the  master  and  his  company.  I  have  seen  the  corpse 
when  carefully  arranged  ;  when  the  collapsing  features 
were  artificially  moulded,  to  imitate  a  tranquillity  that 
had  been  foreign  to  the  last  event.  But  here  was  a 
study  for  a  painter.  The  old  man's  face  was  puckered 
into  the  same  conscious  smile  with  which  I  have  heard 
him  terminate  his  happiest  otter-hunt,  or  some  mountain 
exploit  of  my  kinsman,  which  appeared  to  him  equally 
dear  ;  his  long  hair,  released  from  the  band  with  which 
he  usually  confined  it,  wantoned  in  silvery  ringlets  across 
his  neck  and  shoulders  :  all  else  was  in  wonted  form  ; 
only  that  the  number  of  candles  round  the  bier  might 
have  been  called  extravagant,  and  the  plate  of  snuff 
upon  the  bosom  of  the  corpse  was  heaped  with  a  munifi- 
cence that  would  stamp  the  obsequies  as  splendid. 

Everybody  has  heard  an  Irish  wake  described,  and  there 
is  no  dissimilarity  among  a  hundred,  only  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  opulence  of  the  family,  and  the  quantity  of 
funeral  refreshments,  the  mirth  and  jollity  of  the 
mourners  is  invariably  proportionate.  That  the  master's 
ancient  retainers  should  be  nobly  waked  was  fully 
expected  by  the  country,  and  certainly  they  were  not 
disappointed.  Whisky  in  quantities  passing  all  under- 
standing, tobacco  in  all  its  preparations,  were  fear- 
fully consumed  on  this  important  ceremony  ;  and  during 
the  two  days  and  nights  which  the  otter-killer  was  above 
ground,  the  barn,  spacious  as  it  was,  proved  unequal 
to  accommodate  the  hundreds  who  flocked  from  a 
distance  of  even  twenty  miles  to  have  *'  a  last  look  at 
ould  Antony." 

When  the  evening  fell  on  which  the  corpse  was  to  be 
carried  to  its  resting-place,  a  scene  of  great  novelty  and 
great    interest    ensued.     From    the    insulated    situation 

z 


338  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

of  the  Lodge,  in  connection  with  the  burying-ground, 
it  was  necessary  that  the  body  should  be  carried  across 
the  estuary  by  water.  At  the  appointed  hour,  from 
every  creek  and  harbour,  the  peasantry  were  seen  afloat, 
and  when  the  funeral  left  the  house,  more  than  a  hundred 
boats  accompanied  that  in  which  the  corpse  was  depo- 
sited. My  kinsman  followed  next  to  the  body  with  all 
his  visitors  and  servants  ;  and  when  the  opposite  strand 
was  reached,  he  and  his  foster-brother  placed  their 
shoulders  under  the  coffin,  and  supported  it  for  a  short 
distance  along  the  beach. 

This  was,  I  was  afterwards  informed,  the  highest 
honour  that  could  be  conferred  upon  the  departed  by 
his  master  ;  and  even  the  magnificence  of  the  otter- 
killer's  wake  was  held  inferior  to  this  proud  and  public 
testimony  of  his  patron's  affections. 

One  circumstance  was  remarked  which  was  power- 
fully indicative  of  animal  affection.  The  dead  man's 
terrier  had  remained  night  and  day  beside  his  bier, 
since  the  morning  of  his  death.  Unnoticed,  she  crept 
on  board  the  boat  that  conveyed  the  coffin  to  the 
churchyard  ;  and  when  the  grave  was  filled,  she  was 
wdth  difficulty  carried  home  by  an  attendant,  but, 
escaping  during  the  night,  crossed  the  estuary  by  swim- 
ming, and  again  lay  down  upon  the  turf,  beneath  which 
her  beloved  master  was  sleeping.  Every  care  and 
kindness  was  bestowed  upon  her  in  the  Lodge.  No 
one  addressed  her  but  as  ''  poor  Venney.''  Notwith- 
standing she  drooped  visibly,  and  in  three  weeks  after 
his  interment,  in  death  the  otter-killer's  favourite 
"  bore  him  company." 

When  we  reached  the  Lodge,  we  made  a  discovery 
which,  possibly  with  some  people,  might  lead  to  an 


DEATH    OF   THE   OTTER-KILLER.  339 

Opposite  conclusion,   and   either  prove  the  security   or 
insecurity  of  the  country. 

Not  a  Hving  being  had  remained  within  the  walls, 
and,  consequently,  for  several  hours,  the  house  and 
household  goods  were  abandoned  to  the  mercy  of 
chance  and  chance  travellers.  The  guardian  saint, 
however,  acquitted  herself  like  a  gentlewoman.  We 
found  everything  in  pious  order  ;  and  had  the  Lodge 
been  under  the  especial  care  of  the  glorious  Santa 
Barbara  herself,  watch  and  ward  could  not  have  been 
more  faithfully  maintained. 


340  WILD  SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST, 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

A  MONTH  had  passed  :  winter  comes  on  with  giant 
strides,  and  the  last  lingering  recollections  of  autumn 
are  over  The  weather  becomes  more  rainy  and  tem- 
pestuous ;  and  bogs,  which  we  once  crossed  easily, 
owing  to  the  continued  wet,  are  now  quite  impass- 
able. The  swell,  which  during  the  summer  months, 
came  in  in  long  and  measured  undulations,  breaks  in 
masses  across  the  bar,  and  sends  a  broken  and  tumbling 
sea  inside  the  estuary,  so  as  to  render  it  unsafe  to  expose 
any  boat  of  heavy  tonnage  to  its  influence.  Pattigo 
seldom  ventures  from  his  anchorage,  and  when  last  he 
ventured  to  pass  a  night  at  the  pier,  he  ground  away 
a  hawser  against  the  stones,  notwithstanding  every  pains 
were  bestowed  in  renewing  its  service.  The  springs 
are  usually  high  ;  and  two  nights  since,  the  Lodge  and 
paddocks  were  completely  insulated  and  our  commu- 
nications with  the  mainland  carried  on  by  ferriage. 
The  river  rises  fearfully,  and  the  hugh  masses  of  turf 
left  along  the  strand,  prove  how  violent  the  mountain 
torrents  must  be  at  this  advanced  season.  The  sweet 
and  crystal  stream  is  nowhere  seen  ;  and  Scott*s 
beautiful  lines  happily  describe  the  turbid  river  that  has 
replaced  it : — 

•'  Late,  gazing  down  the  steepy  linn 
That  hems  our  little  garden  in, 
Low  in  its  dark  and  narrow  glen, 
You  scarce  the  rivulet  might  ken, 
So  thick  the  tangled  greenwood  grew, 
So  feebly  trill'd  the  streamlet  through; 
Now,  murmuring  hoarse,  and  frequent  seen  ; 
Through  bush  and  briar  no  longer  green, 
An  angry  brook  it  sweeps  the  glade, 
brawls  over  rock  and  wild  cascade." 


WmtER   SHOOTING.  341 

But  other,  and  no  less  certain,  tokens  harbinger  the 
wild  season  that  has  arrived.  Yesterday  a  six-months' 
puppy,  who  crept  after  me  across  the  adjoining  paddocks, 
stopped  in  a  rushy  field.  Suspecting  that  he  had  a 
hare  before  him,  I  passed  on  to  push  her  from  the  form  : 
I  was  mistaken — a  wisp^  of  snipes,  possibly  thirty  in 
number,  sprang,  and  scattering  in  all  directions,  pitched 
loosely  over  the  adjoining  bogs.  To-day  I  saw  a  flock 
of  barnacles  ;f  and  the  herdsman  on  the  sand-banks 
apprises  us  of  the  first  appearance  of  a  Crowour  Keough.X 
This  is  the  earliest  wood-cock  announced,  but  my  kins- 
man has  no  doubt  but  the  flight^  has  fallen  in  Achil : 
and  we  shall  cross  in  a  few  days,  if  the  weather  answers, 
and  try  SUeve  More,  he  says,  with  excellent  success. 

I  had  been  some  hours  in  bed,  when  I  was  awakened 
by  a  quarrelling  among  the  dogs,  which  I  overheard 
the  keeper  settling  with  the  whip.  I  remained,  and  it 
is  rather  an  unusual  thing  with  me,  a  long  time  awake. 
An  hour  passed,  all  was  again  in  deep  repose,  and  I,  too, 
was  sinking  into  sleep,  when  a  strange  and  unaccount- 
able noise  roused  me.  It  seemed  to  be  at  first  faint  and 
distant,  but  momently  increasing,  grew  louder  and  more 
distinct,  until  it  passed,  to  all  appearance,  directly  above 
my  head.     The  sounds  were  wild  and  musical — ^varied 

*  Wisp,  in  sporting  parlance,  means  a  flock  of  snipes. 

t  The  barnacle  is  a  waterfowl  weighing  about  five  pounds,  and 
measuring  more  than  two  feet  in  length. 

%  Why  this  title,  literally  meaning  "  the  blind  cock,"  should  be 
conferred  by  the  peasantry  of  Ballycroy  on  a  bird  so  remarkable  for 
the  extraordinary  quickness  of  his  vision,  is  a  paradox.  Such  is  the 
known  acuteness  of  the  woodcock's  vision,  that  the  cover -shooter 
chooses  a  masked  position,  or  the  Crowour  Keough  would  seldom 
come  within  range  of  the  gun. 

§  Flight  is  the  term  used  to  describe  a  flock  of  woodcocks,  as  they 
arrive  in  this  country,  in  their  annual  migration  from  the  north  of 
Kurope. 


342  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

in  tone  beyond  anything  1  could  describe,  and  con- 
tinuing, until  they  gradually  became  remote  and  in- 
distinct, and  at  length  totally  died  away.  I  was  amaz- 
ingly puzzled,  but  was  obliged  to  reserve  my  curiosity 
to  be  satisfied  in  the  morning. 

My  cousin  smiled  at  my  inquiry  : — "  And  you  heard 
these  strange  noises  as  well  as  I  ?  This,  if  you  remained 
here,  would  be  little  marvel,  as  nightly  the  Barnacle 
cross  the  Lodge  in  passing  from  one  estuary  to  the  other. 
There  they  sit  on  yonder  point ;  *' — and,  taking  me  to  the 
window,  I  saw  a  considerable  extent  of  sand  literally 
black  with  this  migratory  tribe  :  "  they  come  here  in 
immense  multitudes,  but  from  their  coarse  and  fishy 
flavour,  afford  little  occupation  to   the   water-shooter." 

The  land  barnacles  are  less  numerous,  although 
they  are  found  in  tolerable  abundance.  During  the 
day  I  saw  two  flocks  of  one  or  two-hundred  pairs,  upon 
the  bogs.  They  are,  when  sufficiently  rested  from 
their  journey,  sought  for  with  great  avidity  by  the  few 
gunners  in  this  district,  and  are  very  delicious  when 
kept  a  sufficient  time  after  being  shot,  before  the  cook 
transfers  them  to  the  spit. 

Gray  plover  must  also  migrate  in  thousands  hither. 
Nothing  else  could  account  for  the  immense  flocks 
that  have  been  seen,  and  will  continue,  as  I  am  informed, 
to  arrive.  The  shores  and  moors  are  everywhere 
crowded  with  them  ;  and  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the 
lodge,  Hennessey,  with  two  barrels,  killed  seven  couple 
and  a  half  last  evening.  The  bent-banks  are  their 
favourite  fixture  ;  and  I  have  never  crossed  them  of 
late  without  finding  at  least  one  stand.  These  vary 
in  numbers  ;  but  I  am  certain  I  have  seen  three  hundred 
of  these  birds  thus  congregated. 


WINTER   SHOOTING.  343 

There  is,  in  shooting  plover,  a  common  remark  made 
by  sportsmen,  that  the  second  is  always  the  more  pro- 
ductive barrel.  The  rapidity  with  which  they  vary 
their  position  when  on  the  ground,  seldom  admits  of  a 
grand  combination  for  a  sitting,  or  rather  a  running, 
shot.  But  when  on  the  wing,  their  mode  of  flight  is 
most  favourable  for  permitting  the  shot  to  tell  ;  and  it 
is  by  no  means  unusual  to  bring  down  a  number.  When 
disturbed,  they  frequently  wheel  back  directly  above 
the  fowler,  and  offer  a  tempting  mark  if  he  should  have 
a  barrel  in  reserve  ;  and  even  when  too  high  for  the  shot 
to  take  effect,  I  have  often  thrown  away  a  random  fire  ; 
for  the  plover,  on  hearing  the  report,  directly  make  a 
sweep  downwards  on  the  wing,  and  I  have  by  this  means 
brought  them  within  range  of  the  second  barrel. 

When  the  season  advances,  the  number  of  geese  that 
visit  this  wild  peninsula  is  astonishing.  For  miles  I 
have  traced  their  night  feedings  along  a  river  bank, 
where  the  marshy  surface  afforded  them  their  favourite 
sustenance.  They  are  far  more  wary  than  the  barnacle, 
and  are  extremely  difficult  of  access  in  moderate  weather  ; 
but  chance  and  storm  occasionally  favour  the  sportsman, 
and  in  spite  of  the  caution  of  these  birds,  the  flock  will 
be  surprised,  and  the  patient  gunner,  reap,  in  a  lucky 
moment,  the  reward  of  many  a  weary  vigil  and  bootless 
attempt. 

The  time  that  wild  geese  feed  in  this  country  is  by 
night,  and  particularly  during  moonlight.  I  have 
never  known  them  either  netted  or  decoyed ;  and  all 
the  shooter  has  to  rely  upon  is  patience  and  a  long  barrel. 
Of  all  the  prizes  that  a  wild-fowl  shooter  could  wish  to 
meet  with,  a  flock  of  teal  is  the  very  first.  Indepen- 
dently of  their  being  by  far  the  best  birds  of  the  whole 


344  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

Anas  tribe,  they  are  so  much  easier  of  access,  and  require 
such  a  slight  blow  that  no  matter  whether  you  are 
prepared  for  wildfowl,  partridges,  or  snipes,  you  may, 
at  most  times,  with  very  little  trouble,  contrive  to  get 
near  them  ;  and  this  being  once  done,  you  have  only 
to  shoot  straight  to  be  pretty  sure  of  killing. 

I  have  seen  teal  "  duck  the  flash,"  though  never  but 
once,  and  then  I  had  rather  a  slow-shooting  gun. 

The  last  and  greatest  of  the  wild  visitors,  are  the 
swan  tribe.  Their  being  scarce  or  plentiful  depends 
much  upon  the  season — and  in  winters  of  extreme 
severity  thousands  of  these  birds  will  be  found  upon  the 
estuaries  and  inland  lakes.  The  noise  they  make  is 
wild  and  musical,  and  with  a  little  jancy,  my  kinsman 
says,  the  ear  will  trace  modulations  almost  extending  to 
infinity.  These  birds,  during  severe  frosts  and  snow- 
storms, are  easily  surprised  and  shot  ;  and  the  skins, 
when  carefully  stripped  off,  will  well  repay  the  shooter 
for  his  trouble. 

To  enumerate  the  varieties  of  the  duck  tribe  that  an 
inclement  winter  brings  to  these  shores,  would  be 
difl^icult.  I  have  already  noticed  the  Pintail,  and  the 
Golden-eye  upon  the  estuary.  Widgeons  come  here  in 
immense  flocks  ;  and  that  beautiful  bird,  the  teal,  the 
smallest  and  most  delicate  of  the  whole  species,  is 
found  for  the  remainder  of  the  season  on  loughs  and 
rivers  in  abundance.  The  Grebe  and  Tringa  tribes 
furnish  numerous  and  interesting  varieties  ;  and  an 
ornithologist,  as  well  as  a  sportsman,  would  have  here 
an  ample  field,  could  he  but  set  the  season  at  defiance, 
and  pass  his  winter  on  this  exposed  and  stormy  coast. 

But  the  note  of  dissolution  of  our  happy  party  has 
sounded.     The    Colonel,    having    divers    premonitory 


WINTER   SHOOTING.  345 

twinges,   has   named   an   early   day   for   his   departure. 
To  be  caught  by  the  gout  here  would  be  a    hazardous 
experiment ;     and    the    portmanteau,    whose    captivity 
was  likely  to  occasion  such  desperate  results,  is  again 
packed   and    confided   to    Andy   Bawn.     But  the   com- 
mander's  baggage  is   not  to   be   exposed  to  a  second 
interruption.     The   attempt   was   fatal  to   Mr.   Burke ; 
for,    emboldened    by    the   feud,    which    his    unadvised 
aggression  created  between  my  kinsman  and  this  modern 
Cacus,  the  Sweenies*  seized  the  opportunity,  and  the 
outlaw  was  arrested  in  a  whisky-house,  tried,  and  escaped 
by  a  miracle  from  being  hanged, — but  was,  alas  !    con- 
signed to  Australasia  for  the  course  of  his  natural  life. 
To  do  Mr.  Burke  justice,  he  left  his  native  soil  with 
regret.     Finding  all   chance  of  commuted  punishment 
over,  he  endeavoured  to  obtain  his  liberty  by  an  ingenious 
plan  to  strangle  the  turnkeys,  and  emancipate  all  and 
every  victim  of  judicial  tyranny  who  pleased  to  accept 
his   freedom.     He   did,   poor   man,   make   an   excellent 
offer  to  choke  a  jailer — but  fortune  frowned  upon  the 
attempt ;    the  half-throttled  janitor  was  saved — and  the 
hero  of  the  bridge  of  Bally veeney  will  cross  the  equator 
at  the  the  public  expense. 

To-morrow,  wind  and  weather  permitting,  the  com- 
mander takes  his  departure,  and  to-night  will  conse- 
quently be  a  high  and  solemn  festival.  Would  it  were 
over  •  f  cannot,  dare  not,  offer  an  excuse  for  cavilling 
at  bumpers,  even  were  they  "  fathoms  deep  ;  "  and  all 
the  consolation  that  an  aching  head  will  claim  to-morrow, 
will  be  a  saw  from  old  John  about  "  the  dog  that  bit  me," 

*  This  numerous  clan  derive  their  origin  from  a  Northman, 
They  are,  I  know  not  with  what  justice,  reckoned  a  treacherous 
and  vindictive  tribe,  and  a  feud  with  them  is  consequently  held  to 
be  a  dangerous  affair. 


346  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST.  , 

and  the  merciless  badinage  of  that  black-eyed  coquette 
who  embodies  all  that  Moore  idealized  in  sketching 
his  Nora  Crina. 

How  soft  the  evening  twilight  falls  on  the  waters  of 
the  estuary  !  the  tide  kisses  the  very  verge  of  the 
greensward,  and  looks  so  treacherously  calm,  as  if  its 
storms  were  for  ever  ended.  Boat  after  boat  hurries 
down  the  inlet  to  shoot  their  herring-nets  for  the  night ; 
and  many  an  ancient  ditty,  or  ruder  tale,  will  while 
away  the  time  till  morning.  Occasionally  a  struggle 
between  two  rival  barks  ensues — and  I  remark,  the 
contest  invariably  takes  place  before  the  windows  of 
the  Lodge.  One  very  singular  one  amused  me  much, 
A  boat  rowed  by  four  women  challenged,  and  actually 
out-pulled  another,  though  propelled  by  a  similar  number 
of  the  coarser  sex. 

Indeed,  the  occupations  of  the  ladies  of  Ballycroy 
are  not  essentially  feminine  :  the  roughest  and  most 
dangerous  employments  they  share  in  common  with  the 
men.  A  Mahratta  woman,  they  told  me  in  India, 
regularly  shampoos  her  husband's  horse.  Were  I  of  the 
fair  sex,  I  would  rather  operate  on  a  quadruped  than  row 
a  fishing-boat  by  the  day,  and  cut  sea-weed  up  to  the 
waist  in  water,  with  the  expectation  of  being  swept  from 
my  precarious  footing  by  the  first  mountainous  surge. 


COCK-SHOOTING   IN    ACHIL.  347 


CHAPTER  XXXVIl. 

The  Colonel  has  left  us,  and  we  lose  in  him  the  best 
and  safest  of  friends — a  true  buon  camarado.  With 
spirits  of  youthful  buoyancy,  a  temper  unsoured  by  time, 
and  indifferent  to  worldly  annoyances,  years  have  only 
mellowed  his  companionable  qualities,  while  they  added 
deeply  to  his  anecdote  and  information.  Few  men  of 
a  certain  age  succeed  in  retaining  their  places  as  first 
favourites  with  others  some  quarter  of  a  century  their 
juniors  :  but  the  Colonel  is  an  exception  •  we  shall  feel  a 
blank  in  our  society  ;  and  in  this  gay  and  careless  spirit 
lose  a  dear  companion,  who  seemed  to  put  time  at 
defiance,  and  forbade  gout  itself  to  interrupt  his  comfort, 
or  "  mar  his  tranquillity  " 

The  last  two  days  have  been  dry,  the  wind  is  favourable, 
a  white  frost  has  been  visible  this  morning,  and  we  are 
about  to  pay  our  parting  visit  to  Achil.  We  have  again 
sent  to  our  ancient  entertamers.  the  Water  Guards,  to 
beg  a  shelter  tor  the  night  ,  for  the  days  have  so  sensibly 
shortened,  that  we  shall  have  enough  to  do  to  reach 
Dugurth  at  nightfall. 

"  Merrily,  merrily  bounds  the  bark,"  and  an  hour 
landed  us  at  the  Ridge  Point.  Our  establishment  is 
•  n  a  minor  scale  to  what  we  sported  on  our  first  descent  ; 
we  have  only  some  two  or  three  hangers-on,  and  have 
brought  but  two  brace  of  orderly  and  antiquated  setters. 

I  have  seen  much  of  snipe-shooting  in  many  parts  of 
Ireland,  but  I  could  not  have  imagined  that  the  number 
of  these  exquisite  birds  could  be  found  within  the  same 
space,  that  one  particular  marsh  which  bounds  the  rabbit- 


348  WILD  SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

banks  produced  Independently  of  a  quantity  of 
detached  birds,  several  wisps  sprang  wildly,  as  they 
always  do  ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  this  fen  had  been 
their  temporary  resting-place  after  their  autumnal 
migration  from  the  north.  We  were  the  more  inclined 
to  this  opinion  from  finding  many  of  the  birds  we  killed 
extremely  lean  ;  while  others,  that  sprang  singly,  were 
in  admirable  condition.  Achil  is  a  natural  resting- 
place  for  migratory  birds  ;  and  hence  1  can  well  believe 
the  accounts  given  by  the  islanders,  of  the  immense 
numbers  of  woodcocks  and  snipes  which  are  here  found, 
in  their  transit  from  a  high  latitude  to  our  more  genial 
climate-  The  same  remark  is  made  touching  the  vernal 
visit  of  these  strangers  to  this  island.  After  woodcocks 
have  for  days  vanished  from  the  inland  covers,  they  have 
been  found  in  flocks  on  the  Achil  and  Erris  highlands, 
evidently  congregating  for  their  passage,  and  preparing 
for  the  attempt. 

It  may  be  easily  conceived,  that  whether  the  winter 
stock  of  snipes  and  woodcocks  be  limited  or  abundant, 
will  mainly  depend  upon  the  state  of  the  winds  and 
weather  at  the  period  of  migration.  Hence,  when  the 
latter  end  of  October  and  the  succeeding  month  have 
continued  stormy,  with  south,  or  south-easterly  gales, 
a  lamentable  deficiency  of  game  has  been  invariably 
observed.  That  multitudes  perish  on  their  passage, 
or  are  obliged  to  change  their  course,  is  certain — and 
the  exhausted  state  in  which  the  small  portion  of  the 
survivors  reach  these  shores,  attests  how  difficult  the 
task  must  be  to  effect  a  landing,  when  opposed  by  con- 
trary winds  and  stormy  weather. 

The  common  residence  of  the  snipe  is  in  small  bogs, 
or  wet  grounds,  where  it  is  almost  constantly  digging 


COCK-SHOOTING    IN    ACHIL.  349 

and  nibbling  in  the  soft  mud,  in  search  of  his  food, 
which  consists  chiefly  of  a  very  small  kind  of  red  trans- 
parent worm,  about  an-half  inch  long  ;  it  is  said  also 
to  eat  slugs,  and  the  insects  and  grubs  of  various  kinds, 
which  breed  in  great  abundance  in  those  slimy  stagnant 
places.  In  these  retreats,  when  undisturbed,  the  snipe 
walks  leisurely  with  its  head  erect,  and  at  short  intervals 
keeps  moving  the  tail.  But  in  this  state  of  tranquillity 
it  is  very  rarely  to  be  seen,  as  it  is  extremely  watchful, 
and  perceives  the  sportsman  or  his  dog  at  a  great  distance, 
and  instantly  conceals  itself  among  the  variegated 
withered  herbage  so  similar  in  appearance  to  its  own 
plumage,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  discover  it  while 
squatted  motionless  in  its  seat  :  it  seldom,  however, 
waits  the  near  approach  of  any  person,  particularly  in 
open  weather,  but  commonly  springs  and  takes  flight 
at  a  distance  beyond  the  reach  of  the  gun.  When  first 
disturbed,  it  utters  a  kind  of  feeble  whistle,  and  gently 
flies  against  the  wind,  turning  nimbly  in  a  zigzag  direction 
for  two  or  three  hundred  paces,  and  sometimes  soaring 
almost  out  of  sight  ,  its  note  is  then  something  like  the 
bleating  of  a  goat,  but  is  changed  to  a  singular  humming 
or  drumming  noise,  uttered  in  its  descent. 

From  its  vigilance  and  manner  of  flying,  it  is  one  ot 
the  most  difficult  birds  to  shoot.  Some  sportsmen  can 
imitate  their  cries,  and  by  that  means  draw  them  within 
reach  of  their  shot  ;  others,  of  a  less  honourable  descrip- 
tion, prefer  the  more  certain  and  less  laborious  method 
of  catching  them  in  the  night  by  a  springe,  like  that  which 
is  used  for  the  wood  cock. 

The  snipe  is  migratory,  and  is  met  vdth  in  all  countries  ; 
like  the  woodcock,  it  shuns  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold 
by  keeping  upon  the  bleak  moors  in  summer,  and  seeking 


350  WILD   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

the  shelter  of  the  valleys  in  winter.  In  severe  frosts 
and  storms  of  snow,  driven  by  extremity  of  the  weather, 
snipes  seek  the  unfrozen  boggy  places,  runners  from 
springs,  or  any  open  streamlet  of  water,  and  they  are  sure 
to  be  found,  often  in  considerable  numbers  in  these 
places,  where  they  sometimes  sit  till  nearly  trodden 
upon  before  they  will  take  their  flight. 

Although  it  is  well-known  that  numbers  of  snipes 
leave  Great  Britain  in  the  spring,  and  return  in  the 
autumn,  yet  it  is  equally  well  ascertained  that  many 
constantly  remain,  and  breeds  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  for  their  nests  and  young  ones  have  been  so 
often  found  as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  this  fact.  The  female 
makes  her  nest  in  the  most  retired  and  inaccessible 
parts  of  the  morass,  generally  upon  the  stump  of  an 
alder  or  willow  ;  it  is  composed  of  withered  grass  and 
a  few  feathers  ;  her  eggs,  four  or  five  in  number,  are  of 
an  oblong  shape,  and  of  a  greenish  colour,  with  rusty 
spots  ;  the  young  ones  run  off  soon  after  they  are  freed 
from  the  shell,  but  they  are  attended  by  the  parent  birds 
until  their  bills  have  acquired  a  sufficient  firmness  to 
enable  them  to  provide  for  themselves. 

The  snipe  is  a  very  fat  bird,  but  its  fat  does  not  cloy, 
and  very  rarely  disagrees  even  with  the  weakest  stomach. 
It  is  much  esteemed  as  a  delicious  and  well-flavoured 
dish,  and  is  cooked  in  the  same  manner  as  the  woodcock. 

Snipes,  when  plenty,  afford  very  excellent  sport,  it 
being  allowed  to  be  the  pleasantest,  on  account  of  the 
quick  succession  of  shots  ;  this  is  also  the  best  shooting 
for  practice,  seldom  failing  to  make  indifferent  shots 
most  excellent  ones.  There  is  no  shooting  that  presents 
such  a  variety  of  shots,  scarcely  any  two  being  alike. 
These    birds    usually    fly    against    the    wind,    therefore 


COCK-SHOOTING   IN    ACHIL.  35 1 

every  snipe-shooter  should  walk  down  it,  as  by  that 
means  the  bird,  it  he  rises  before  him,  will  fly  back, 
and  coming  round  him,  describe  a  kind  of  circle,  or  at 
least  his  flight,  for  a  certain  distance,  will  not  lengthen 
the  shot,  allowing  him  a  certain  time  to  cover  the  bird, 
and  take  good  aim  ;  for  if  he  gets  up  before  him,  and 
should  by  chance  go  down  the  wind  or  from  him,  it  is 
then  the  most  difficult  shot.  It  will  be  proper,  in  this 
case  to  let  the  bird  get  a  little  distance  from  him,  as  then 
he  will  fly  steadier,  and  the  slightest  grain  will  fetch  him 
to  the  ground. 

We  crossed  the  bent- banks,  occasionally  knocking  a 
rabbit  over  as  we  went  along,  and  wheeled  to  the  west- 
ward to  skirt  the  base  of  Slieve  More.  We  had  not 
proceeded  far,  before  an  islander,  who  was  herding 
cows,  told  us  that  there  was  a  crowour  keough  beg*  in  the 
next  ravine.  We  accordingly  put  a  setter  in,  and  were 
gratified  with  a  steady  point  in  the  place  the  herdsman 
had  intimated.  The  bird  sprang,  and  was  knocked 
over  by  my  companion,  when  the  little  woodcock  proved 
to  be  a  double  snipe.  These  birds  are  extremely  scarce 
here,  and  a  few  couple  only  are  seen  during  a  whole 
season  by  persons  most  conversant  in  traversing  the 
bogs.  There  cannot  be  a  doubt  but  this  bird  is  a  distinct 
species  ;  but  for  its  extreme  rarity  and  solitary  habits, 
naturalists  are  puzzled  to  account. 

We  shot,  before  we  began  to  ascend  the  hill,  a  couple 
of  woodcocks  lying  out  upon  the  moors.  They  were 
very  shy,  never  allowing  the  dogs  to  come  to  a  set. 
This  is  usually  the  case  when  these  birds  are  outlying  ; 
and  I  have  followed  a  cock  for  miles  before  I  got  him 
within  fire,  teased   by  his  getting  up   before   I   could 

*  A  little  woodcock. 


352  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

approach,  and  removing  some  hundred  yards  from  the 
gun.  Some  favourable  inequaUty  of  surface  has  at  last 
enabled  me  to  close  with  my  wild  quarry,  and,  not- 
withstanding the  keenness  of  his  eye,  got  the  wary 
stranger  eventually  within  range  of  shot. 

There  grows  in  the  valleys  and  water-courses  which 
are  so  frequent  in  the  Achil  and  Ballycroy  hills,  that 
large  and  shrub-like  heather  that  reaches  nearly  to  the 
height  of  brushwood.  Here,  in  the  earlier  season, 
the  woodcocks  repose  after  their  passage,  and  at  times 
the  numbers  found  in  these  ravines  are  stated  to  be 
extraordinary.  With  the  first  frost  or  snow  they  move 
off  to  the  interior,  dropping  as  they  go  along  in  the 
different  covers,  until  a  part  of  the  flight  reaches  the  very 
centre  of  the  kingdom.  We  met,  during  our  day's  fag, 
about  fifteen  couple,  out  of  which  eight  and  a  half  were 
brought  to  bag.  To  these  we  added  three  brace  and  a 
half  of  grouse,  and  a  brace  of  hares.  When  with  these 
were  united  snipes,  plovers  and  rabbits,  it  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  our  bags  were  most  imposing,  and  produced 
above  fifty  head  of  game.  From  our  kind  friends, 
the  Water  Guards,  we  received  a  hospitable  reception  ; 
and  next  morning  were  run  across  the  bay  in  their  galley, 
and  landed  safely  upon  our  own  shores. 

The  cock-shooting,  to  use  my  cousin's  words,  in  the 
west  of  Ireland  is  acknowledged  to  be  very  superior  ; 
and  when  the  flight  has  been  large,  and  the  season  is 
sufficiently  severe  to  drive  the  birds  well  to  cover,  there 
is  not,  to  a  quick  eye,  more  beautiful  shooting  in  the 
world.  Some  of  the  covers  are  copses  of  natural  wood, 
situated  in  the  very  centre  of  the  mountains.  Conse- 
quently, when  the  snow  falls,  every  woodcock  for  miles 
around  deserts  the  heath  and  seeks  the  nearest  shelter. 


COCK-SHOOTING   IN    ACHIL.  353 

Then  will  the  sportsman  be  amply  repaid  for  all  his 
labour.  From  a  copse  of  not  more  than  thirty  acres 
extent,  I  have  seen  fifty  couple  of  woodcocks  flushed  ; 
and,  as  several  excellent  covers  lay  in  the  immediate 
vicinity,  it  was  no  unusual  thing  for  two  or  three  guns 
to  bring  home  twenty,  nay,  thirty,  couple.  I  have  known 
a  party  fire  a  number  of  shots  that  appeared  incredible  ; 
and  I  have  more  than  once  expended  my  last  charge  of 
powder,  and  left,  for  want  of  ammunition,  one  or  more 
copses  untried. 

The  best  cock-shooting  cannot  be  had  without  a  good 
deal  of  fag.  Like  fox-hunting,  it  is  work  for  hardy 
spirits  ;  and  non  sine  pulvere  palma  will  apply  to  both. 
To  reach  a  mountain  cover,  the  sportsman  must  be  on 
the  alert  two  or  three  hours  before  dayhght,  for  he  has 
likely  some  ten  Irish  miles  to  ride  or  drive  over,  by  a 
rough  and  dangerous  road,  now  rendered  scarcely 
discernible  from  the  adjacent  bogs,  and  hardly  passable 
from  the  snowdrifts.  The  short  day  is  hardly  sufficient 
for  shooting  the  different  woods  ;  and  then  the  same 
distance  must  be  again  traversed,  for  which  the  shooter 
will  be  a  borrower  from  the  night.  Then  he  must 
reckon  on  divers  delays  and  sundry  accidents  ;  horses 
will  come  down,  dog-carts  capsize,  a  trace  break,  or  a 
spring  fail  ;  and  what  has  annoyed  me  more  than  all 
together,  probably  a  fog  rise  so  suddenly  and  densely, 
as  to  render  the  road  undistinguishable  from  the  sur- 
rounding heaths.  But  when  all  this  is  achieved, — when 
a  cover-party  have  fairly  encircled  the  table,  after  the 
luxury  of  a  complete  toilet, — when  the  fire  sparkles, 
the  curtains  are  drawn,  and  the  wine  circulates, — why 
then,  without  let  the  storm  blow  till  it  bursts  its  cheeks — 
and  within,  Father  Care  may  hang  himself  in  his  own 
garters. 

I    A 


354  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

There  are  other  perils,  also,  to  which  the  cover- 
shooter  is  obnoxious.  The  eye  is  sometimes  endangered 
by  pressing  unguardedly  through  the  copse  wood ; 
and  I  knew  one  case  where  the  sight  was  totally  lost  from  a 
twig  springing  from  a  person  who  was  struggling  through 
the  underwood  and  striking  the  next  who  followed. 
The  legs  also  are  frequently  and  severely  wounded 
by  the  sharp  stumps  which  remain  after  a  thicket  has 
been  thinned.  But  from  random  shots  the  chief  danger 
arises  ;  and  to  prevent  accidents  occurring,  a  party,  and 
particularly  if  it  be  numerous,  should  be  guarded  in 
selecting  their  stands  and  altering  their  positions.  I 
have  been  struck  a  dozen  times,  but  never  with  any 
worse  effect  than  receiving  a  shot  or  two  in  my  cheek 
and  ear  ;  but  many  a  time  I  have  felt  a  shower  rattle 
against  my  fustian  jacket,  which,  however,  endured  it 
bravely,  as  a  garment  of  proof  should  do. 

Some  men,  from  carelessness  or  stupidity,  are  really  a 
nuisance  to  a  cover-party  ;  and  to  others,  one  would  almost 
ascribe  a  fatality,  and  avoid  them  Hke  an  evil  genius. 
In  the  former  case,  I  have  found,  after  remonstrance 
failed,  and  they  continued  throwing  their  shot  liberally 
around,  without  apparently  caring  one  farthing  upon 
whose  person  it  alighted,  the  best  cure  was  instantly  to 
turn  a  barrel  as  nearly  in  the  direction  of  the  report 
as  possible.  A  well-distributed  charge  rattling  through 
the  brush  wood,  and  falling  upon  the  delinquent,  gave^ 
practically,  a  hint  that  made  him  more  cautious  for 
the  future,  and  proved  more  effective  than  the  most 
powerful  jobation.     Of  the  latter  class — I  mean  unlucky 

companions,  I  shall  particularise  one.     Captain  M 

shot  with  me  an  entire  season.  He  was  a  pretty  shot, 
and  an  excellent  fellow  ;  but  I  never  entered  a  cover  with 


COCK-SHOOTING   IN    ACHIL.  355 

him  that  I  was  not  certain  to  be  struck  before  we  returned 
home.  Every  precaution  to  evade  his  shot  was  useless. 
If  in  a  copse  of  a  mile  long  there  was  a  solitary  opening 
to  admit  its  passage,  he  was  opposite  it  to  a  certainty  ; 
and  my  first  intimation  that  such  an  alley  did  exist, 
would  be  a  fall  of  withered  leaves  from  the  bushes 
above,  and  most  likely  a  few  grains  lodging  in  my  hat 
or  jacket.  If  I  moved  to  avoid  a  chance  of  accident, 
something  induced  him  to  make  a  corresponding  change  ; 
and  at  last  I  became  so  nervous  that  I  obliged  him 
momently  to  call  out,  that  I  might  ascertain  our  relative 
positions,  and  guard,  if  possible,  against  injury. 

We  once,  during  a  severe  frost,  shot  the  beautiful 
islands  in  the  lake  of  Castlebar,  which  belong  to  the 
Marquis  of  Sligo.  There  were  an  immense  number  of 
cocks  in  cover,  and  we  had  been  particularly  successful  ; 
but  the  wonder  was,  I  had  that  day  escaped  unwounded, 
and  my  prayer  to  "  keep  lead  out  of  me  "  had  been 
heard.  On  our  return,  my  friend  was  pluming  himself 
on  this  result.  *'  It  was  foolish,"  he  said,  **  to  reckon 
him  unlucky.  To  be  sure,  some  shots  of  his  had  been 
unfortunate,  but  such  would  ever  be  the  case."  We  had 
now  left  off  shooting,  and  were  within  a  few  fields  of  the 
barracks,  when  a  jack  snipe  sprang  from  a  drain  on  the 
road  side,  and  flying  to  the  top  of  the  field,  pitched  in 
the  upper  ditch.  I  followed  it  merely  to  discharge  my 
barrels — it  sprang,  and  the  report  of  my  gun  disturbed 
a  hare  in  the  bottom  of  the  field  ;  she  moved,  and  my 
companion  instantly  discharged  both  barrels.  From 
the  hardness  of  the  surface,  the  shot  rose  ;  a  shower  fell 
upon  the  protected  parts  of  my  person,  while  two  struck 
me  on  the  lip,  and  cut  me  deeply.  I  was  more  than 
one  hundred  yards  from  him,  yet  from  the  hard  frost,  the 


356  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

ricochet  of  the  shot  came  as  sharply  upon  me  as  if  I  had 
been  within  point-blank  distance.  After  that  incident, 
need  I  add  ?  much  as  I  loved  him,  I  never  pulled  a 
trigger  in  his  company  again. 


MEMOIR    OF    HENNESSEY.  357 


CHAPTER    XXXVIIL 

We  sat  down  to  dinner  tite-d-tete,  and  although 
both  myself  and  my  kinsman  made  an  exertion  to  banish 
unpleasant  reminiscences,  the  evening  was  the  most 
sombre  that  I  had  yet  passed.  The  happy  party  who 
once  tenanted  our  "  merrie  home  "  are  never  to  meet 
again.  The  otter-killer  **  sleeps  the  sleep  that  knows 
no  breaking  " — the  Colonel  has  retired  to  his  winter 
quarters — the  Priest's  confessions  call  him  from  us 
for  a  season — and  some  secret  intelligence  which  reached 
the  Lodge  over  night  has  caused  Hennessey  to  disappear. 

To  gratify  a  strong  expression  of  curiosity  on  my 
part  respecting  the  latter,  my  cousin  told  me  the  following 
particulars  of  this  singular  personage  : — 

"  If  ever  man  came  into  the  world  with  the  organ  of 
destnictiveness  surcharged,  it  was  my  unhappy  foster- 
brother.  He  was  a  lively  and  daring  boy,  and  being 
a  favourite  with  my  late  father,  had  opportunities  of 
improvement  afforded  to  him,  which  persons  in  his 
sphere  seldom  can  obtain.  But  Hennessey  showed 
little  inclination  for  literary  pursuits,  the  gun  was  more 
adapted  to  him  than  the  pen — ^and  at  fifteen,  when  but 
a  very  indifferent  scribe,  he  was  admitted  by  the  whole 
population  to  be  the  best  shot  of  his  years  that  *  ever 
laid  stock  to  shoulder.'  Encouraged  by  my  father's 
partiality,  from  this  period  he  led  an  idle,  careless  Ufe, 
and  rambled  over  the  country,  breaking  dogs,  or  amusing 
himself  with  the  gun  and  fishing-rod. 

**  I  was  at  the  college  when  the  first  of  his  misfor- 
tunes  occurred.     He   had   imprudently   ventured   into 


358  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

a  dancing-house,  where  a  number  of  the  Sweenies  were 
assembled,  with  whom  he  had  previously  been  at  feud, 
and,  as  might  have  been  anticipated,  a  quarrel  quickly 
arose.  Hennessey,  too  late,  perceived  his  danger ; 
but,  with  that  daring  determination  for  which  he  has  ever 
been  remarkable,  when  the  assault  began,  he  made  a 
sudden  dash  for  the  door,  and  overturning  all  that  opposed 
him,  succeeded  in  escaping.  He  was,  however,  closely 
pursued.  From  his  uncommon  activity,  he  far  out- 
stripped all  but  one  of  his  enemies.  He  had  nearly 
reached  the  river — but  his  enemy  was  close  behind. 
Intending  to  disable  his  pursuer,  Hennessey  picked  up 
a  stone,  and,  unfortunately,  threw  it  with  such  fatal 
precision,  that  the  skull  of  his  opponent  was  beaten  in, 
and  he  expired  on  the  spot. 

"  Well,  this  was  an  unfortunate  affair,  but  it  was 
homicide  in  self-defence.  My  father  accommodated 
matters  with  the  Sweenies,  and  my  foster-brother  was 
discharged  without  a  prosecution. 

"  A  year  passed,  but  the  Sweenies  had  not  forgotten 
or  forgiven  the  death  of  their  kinsman.  Hennessey's 
rambling  habits  exposed  him  to  frequent  encounters 
with  this  clan  :  and  one  night,  when  returning  late 
from  the  fair  of  Newport,  with  two  or  three  companions, 
he  came  into  unexpected  collision  with  a  party  of  his 
ancient  enemies,  A  scuffle  ensued — in  the  struggle 
he  wrested  a  loaded  whip  from  his  antagonist,  and 
struck  the  unhappy  wretch  so  heavily  with  his  own 
weapon,  that  after  lingering  nearly  a  month,  he  died 
from  the  contusion. 

"  This  second  mishap  occasioned  us  a  deal  of  trouble  ; 
but  Hennessey  surrendered,  was  tried,  and  acquitted, 
and  we  all  trusted  that  his  misfortunes  were  at  an  end. 


MEMOIR   OF   HENNESSEY.  359 

He  abjured  the  use  of  spirits,  avoided  late  hours,  and 
such  meetings  as  might  expose  him  to  any  colHsion 
with  that  clan  who  had  been  so  unfortunate,  and  reli- 
giously determined  to  avoid  every  cause  of  quarrelling  ; 
but  fate  determined  that  it  should  be  otherwise. 

"  Having  been  invited  to  a  dragging  home,  as  the 
bridegroom  was  his  near  relative,  Hennessey  could  not, 
without  giving  offence,  decline  attending  on  the  happy 
occasion.  He  was  then  a  remarkably  handsome  fellow 
— and  you  would  vainly  now  seek  in  those  gaunt  and 
careworn  features  the  manly  beauty  which  then  caused 
many  a  rustic  heart  to  beat.  The  bride's  cousin  accom- 
panied her ;  she  was  remarkably  pretty,  and  was, 
besides,  reported  to  be  the  largest  heiress  in  the  barony. 
With  such  advantages,  no  wonder  '  of  lovers  she'd 
plenty,'  as  the  ballad  says  : — my  foster-brother  met  her, 
danced  with  her,  drank  with  her — loved  her,  and  was 
beloved  in  turn.  Every  rival  was  double-distanced  ; 
but  she  was,  unfortunately,  betrothed  by  her  father 
to  a  wealthy  Kearne  ;*  and  although  I,  in  person, 
interposed,  and  used  my  powerful  influence,  the  old 
fellow,  her  father,  was  obstinate  in  refusing  to  break  off 
the  match. 

"  Hennessey  was  no  man  to  see  his  handsome  mistress 
consigned  without  her  own  consent  to  the  arms  of  a 
rival.  He  made  the  usual  arrangements,  and  I 
encouraged  him  to  carry  her  off.  The  evening  came — he 
left  the  Lodge  in  a  boat,  with  six  fine  young  peasants  ; 
and  crossing  the  bay,  landed  by  moonlight  at  a  little 
distance  from  the  village  where  his  inamorata  dwelt. 

"  That  very  night  a  multitude  of  the  Malleys  had 
accompanied  the  accepted  suitor  to  conclude  all 
*  Anglic e^  a  rich,  vulgar  clown. 


360  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

necessary  preliminaries.  The  cabin  of  the  heiress  was 
crowded,  and  all  within  was  noisy  revelry,  Hennessey, 
with  one  companion,  stole  to  the  back  of  the  house. 

"  He  knew  the  chamber  of  the  bride  elect,  for  he  had 
more  than  once  '  when  all  the  world  were  dreaming,' 
visited  his  pretty  mistress.  He  looked  through  the 
little  casement,  and,  sight  of  horror  !  there  she  was, 
seated  on  the  side  of  the  bed,  and  the  Kearne's  arm 
around  her  waist,  with  all  the  familiarity  of  a  privileged 
lover  !  There,  too,  was  the  priest  of  Inniskea,  and 
divers  elders  of  *  both  the  houses  ' — ^while  the  remainder 
of  the  company,  for  whose  accommodation  this  grand 
chamber  was  insufficient,  were  indulging  in  the  kitchen 
or  dancing  in  the  barn. 

"  Since  the  days  of  Lochinvar,  there  never  was  a 
more  daring  suitor  than  my  foster-brother  ;  yet  he  did 
not  consider  it  a  prudent  measure  to  enter  the  state 
apartment  *  'mong  bridesmen,  and  kinsmen,  and  clans- 
men, and  all,' — but  waited  patiently  at  the  window 
to  see  what  some  lucky  chance  might  do.  Nor  did  he 
wait  in  vain.  Kathleein  turned  her  pretty  eyes  on 
the  moonlit  casement,  and  thought,  poor  girl  !  how 
often  her  young  lover  had  stolen  there  in  secret,  and  told 
his  tale  of  passion.  A  tap,  too  light  for  any  but  the  ear 
of  love  to  detect,  arrested  her  attention,  and  she  saw  the 
indistinct  form  of  a  human  face  outside  ;  and  whose 
could  it  be  but  her  favoured  youth  ?  Seizing  an  early 
opportunity,  she  stole  from  the  apartment ;  she  soon 
was  in  her  lover's  arms  ;  a  few  words,  and  a  few  kisses, 
— and  all  was  settled  : — and  while  the  Kearne,  the 
Priest,  and  the  father  were  regulating  the  exact  quan- 
tities of  cattle  and  plenishing*   that  were  to  dower  the 

*  Plenishing  means  household  furniture,  beds,  blankets,  etc. 


MEMOIR   OF   HENNESSEY.  36 1 

handsome  bride,  Kathleein  was  hurrying  to  the  shore 
with  her  young  and  daring  suitor. 

*'  An  attempt  so  boldly  and  so  fortunately  begun,  was, 
however,  doomed  to  end  unhappily.  One  of  the 
Malleys  had  discovered  the  interview,  and  witnessed  the 
elopement.  Having  silently  observed  the  route  of  the 
fugitives,  he  apprised  the  parties  within,  that  their 
negotiations  were  likely  to  become  nugatory,  and  a 
fierce  and  vindictive  pursuit  was  instantly  commenced. 
The  distance,  however,  to  the  beach  was  short :  the 
companion  of  the  bold  abductor  had  run  forward  ;  the 
bride  was  won — the  boat  was  launched — the  oars  were 
dipping  in  the  water — when,  alas  !  the  rush  of  rapid 
footsteps  were  heard,  and  oaths  and  threats  announced 
that  the  fugitives  were  closely  followed.  Two  or  three 
of  the  Malleys  had  far  outstripped  the  rest ;  but  a 
minute  more,  and  pursuit  would  have  been  hopeless. 
One  man  had  passed  the  others  far,  and  on  the  brink 
of  the  tide  he  caught  the  fair  runaway  in  his  arms, 
while  the  companions  of  the  gallant  were  actually 
pulling  her  on  board.  The  chase  was  hard  at  hand — 
twenty  feet  were  heard  rushing  over  the  loose  shingle 
— not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost,  or  the  bride  was  gone  for 
ever.  Like  lightning  Hennessey  caught  up  a  stretcher 
from  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  discharged  one  murderous 
blow^  upon  the  man  who  held  back  his  beloved  mistress, 
a  deep-drawn  moan  was  heard,  and  the  unhappy  Kearne, 
for  it  was  himself,  sank  upon  the  beach  without  life  or 
motion  !  Off  went  the  boat — off  went  the  lady — and 
the  athletic  crew  pulled  through  the  sparkling  water, 
little  dreaming  that  their  exulting  leader  was  for 
the  third  time  a  homicide !  I  cannot  tell  you  what 
I    suffered    next    morning,    when    the    tragical    result 


362  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

of  an  attempt  I  had  myself  encouraged  was  told  me. 
My  first  care  was  to  look  to  the  safety  of  my  foster- 
brother  and  his  bride  ;  and  until  pursuit  was  over, 
I  had  them  conveyed  by  Pattigo  in  the  hooker  to  Innis- 
boffin.  There  they  remained  in  safe  concealment,  and  for 
six  months  it  was  not  deemed  prudent  to  permit  them 
to  return,  as  the  clan  of  the  deceased  were  numerous 
and  vindictive. 

"  Time  flew.  They  came  back,  and  for  some  time 
remained  here  unmolested.  Kathleein  was  near  her 
confinement,  when  one  day  we  received  information 
that  the  Malleys  had  procured  a  warrant  with  a  civil 
force  to  execute  it,  and  were  determined  at  every  hazard 
to  arrest  my  foster-brother.  I,  a  magistrate  myself, 
could  not  openly  protect  him  ;  and  that  evening  he 
left  the  Lodge  at  night-fall,  to  shelter  himself  in  the 
island  of  Innisbiggle  until  the  threatened  danger  passed. 
Kathleein,  unfortunately,  accompanied  him  ;  although 
we  told  her  that  there  was  but  one  poor  family  on  the 
place,  and  its  difficulty  of  approach,  while  favourable 
to  the  concealment  of  her  husband,  was  unsuited  to  any 
female  situated  like  her. 

"  On  landing  on  the  island,  the  solitary  family,  who 
generally  resided  in  the  single  cabin  it  contained,  were 
absent  at  the  fair  of  Westport.  Hennessey  and  his  wife 
took  possession  of  the  hut,  lighted  a  fire,  and  made 
themselves  as  comfortable  as  the  wretched  hovel  would 
admit.  Even  then  he  urged  her  to  return  to  the  Lodge, 
but  to  leave  him  in  perfect  solitude  on  this  desolate  place 
was  more  than  she  could  determine.  Night  came,  and 
the  weather,  which  had  been  squally  all  day,  became  worse 
momently,  and  at  midnight  blew  a  gale.  The  outlaw 
and  his  wife  were  now  shut  out  from  all  the  world, 


MEMOIR  OF   HENNESSEY.  363 

for  a  raging  sea  was  roaring  round  the  island,  and  all 
communication  with  the  mainland  was  interrupted. 
Whether  fear  precipitated  the  dreaded  event  I  know  not ; 
but  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  while  the  elemental  war 
was  in  its  fury,  symptoms  of  approaching  travail  were 
perceived  by  poor  Kathleein,  and  the  unhappy  girl 
became  more  and  more  sensible  of  the  terrible  danger 
that  was  coming  on.  What  was  to  be  done  ?  It 
wanted  some  hours  of  morning,  and  even  were  it  light, 
until  the  tide  fell,  no  mortal  could  cross  that  stormy 
water. 

*'  Poor  wretch  !  with  a  withered  heart,  all  that  he 
could  do  to  cheer  his  sinking  companion  was  done  ; 
but  every  hour  she  became  worse,  and  every  moment  her 
pain  and  danger  were  increasing.  Driven  to  madness, 
at  the  first  dawn  of  morning  he  rushed  madly  to  the 
beach,  and  though  the  retiring  tide  rushed  between  the 
island  and  the  mainland  with  furious  violence,  he 
plunged  into  the  boiling  eddies,  and  with  great  strength 
and  desperate  courage  made  good  his  passage  to  the 
opposite  shore. 

"  To  obtain  help  was,  of  course,  attended  with  delay  ; 
at  last,  however,  it  was  accomplished,  and  the  tide  fell 
sufficiently  to  permit  some  females  to  cross  the  farset* 
He,  the  unhappy  husband,  far  outstripped  them  :  like 
a  deer  he  bounded  over  the  beach  that  interposed  between 
the  cabin  and  the  sands — he  reached  it — a  groan  of 
exquisite  agony  w^as  heard  from  within — next  moment  he 
was  stooping  over  his  exhausted  wife,  a  dead  infant  was 
pressed  wildly  to  her  bosom  :  she  turned  a  dying  look 
of  love  upon  his  face,  and  was  a  corpse  within  the  arms 
of  the  ill-starred  homicide  ! 

*  The  stand  communicating  at  low  water  between  an  island  and 
the  main. 


364  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE   WEST. 

"  When  the  tidings  of  the  melancholy  fate  of  poor 
Kathleein  were  carried  to  the  Lodge,  I  got  the  hooker 
under  weigh  and  stood  over  to  the  island.  My  unhappy 
foster-brother  appeared  paralysed  with  sorrow,  and 
incapable  of  any  exertion.  We  brought  him,  with  the 
bodies  of  the  young  mother  and  the  dead  babe,  to  the 
house  ;  and  the  latter  were,  in  due  season,  interred 
with  every  mark  of  sympathy  and  respect. 

"  For  a  time  I  dreaded  that  the  unfortunate  homicide 
would  have  sunk  into  hopeless  idiocy  ;  but  he  suddenly 
appeared  to  rouse  his  torpid  faculties ;  he  became 
gloomy  and  morose — and,  deaf  to  all  my  remonstrances, 
to  the  least  of  which  formerly  he  would  have  paid  the 
most  marked  regard,  he  wandered  over  the  country 
and  seemed  to  court  an  arrest,  or  rather  an  attempt 
at  it ;  for,  from  his  desperation,  I  am  inclined  to  think 
he  would  have  done  some  new  deed  of  blood  had  his 
enemies  ventured  to  assail  him.  All  I  could  do  to  pre- 
vent mischief  I  did.  I  had  the  bullets  drawn  from  his 
fire-arms  when  he  slept ;  I  kept  him  under  constant 
espionage,  and  retained  him  as  much  about  my  person 
as  I  could  possibly  contrive.  Whether  none  would 
grapple  with  a  desperate  and  well-armed  man,  or  that 
some  feeling  for  his  sufferings  softened  the  rancour 
of  his  enemies  for  a  time,  I  know  not,  but  he  passed 
unmolested  through  the  country  ;  and  the  most  daring 
of  the  Sweenies  and  Malleys  left  the  road  when  they 
accidentally  met  my  unhappy  foster-brother.  Time 
has  gradually  softened  his  distress,  and  the  asperity 
of  his  temper  has  subsided  ;  he  has  lost  the  fierce  and 
savage  look  that  lately  no  stranger  could  meet  without 
being  terror-stricken  ;  and  I  shall  endeavour  to  get  the 
death  of  his  miserable  rival,  which  decidedly  was  un- 


MEMOIR  OF   HENNESSEY.  365 

premeditated  and  accidental,  accommodated.  Some  intel- 
ligence has  made  it  advisable  for  Hennessey  to  leave  the 
Lodge,  although  I  hardly  think  any  of  his  enemies 
would  dare  to  seek  him  here  ;  but  still,  we  cannot  be  too 
cautious,  and  to  be  placed  in  the  power  of  his  former 
foeman  at  this  moment,  would  be  to  involve  his  life 
in  imminent  peril. 

**  His  misfortunes  have  given  me  more  distress  than 
anything  that  has  ever  befallen  myself  personally. 
His  attachment  to  me  is  so  devoted,  that  I  cannot  but 
have  brotherly  feelings  for  this  ill-starred  fosterer. 
Although  he  would  follow  me  to  the  corners  of  the  earth, 
if  I  required,  he  would  rather  risk  a  trial  than  leave  the 
country,  which  I  have  often  and  earnestly  entreated  him 
to  do." 

I  offered  here  to  take  Hennessey  under  my  protection 
to  England,  but  my  kinsman  shook  his  head. 

"It  is  a  kind  intention,  Frank,  but  he  would  not 
leave  me.  I  am  the  last  link  that  binds  him  to  the  world, 
and  while  life  lasts,  we  must  run  our  wild  career  in  the 
same  couples.  Poor  Hennessey  !  there  are  worse  men 
than  he,  although  misfortune  has  made  him  thrice  a 
homicide." 

It  was  late  :  John  brought  oysters  at  the  customary 
hour,  and  soon  after  we  separated  for  the  night. 


366  WILD  SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 


The  day  of  my  departure  from  this  wild  retreat, 
where  so  many  months  have  happily  passed  over,  is 
determined  :  indeed,  the  season  hardly  admits  a  longer 
sojourn,  and  circumstances  beyond  my  control  require 
an  immediate  return  to  England.  My  kinsman  has 
made  arrangements  for  passing  the  genial  season  of 
Christmas,  and  the  remainder  of  the  winter,  with  his 
relations  in  the  interior  ;  and  in  the  morning  fox-hunt 
and  evening  dance,  the  dullest  months  of  gloomy  winter 
will  merrily  disappear. 

For  me,  were  I  not  encumbered  with  a  fortune,  and 
"  all  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to  "  when  one  is  afflicted 
with  independence,  this  place  would  suit  me  admirably. 
Though  these  shores  be  wild,  and  weather  savage,  yet 
every  day  brings  its  novelty  along  with  it.  The  winter 
fisheries  on  the  coast  are  magnificent ;  and  birds,  known 
only  to  a  naturalist  elsewhere,  are  daily  presented  during 
the  stormy  season  to  the  active  and  intelligent  shooter. 
That  wild  being,  Hennessey,  has  preserved  an  infinity  of 
curious  specimens  ;  and  many  a  rare  production  that  the 
ornithologist  would  prize,  is  here  shot,  and  disregarded 
by  the  peasant  who  is  so  fortunate  as  to  possess  a  gun. 

Among  the  natural  advantages  which  this  remote 
coast  possesses,  the  ocean  contributes  largely  to  the 
stock,  and  even  the  tempest  does  not  rage  in  vain.  The 
prevaihng  westerly  winds  drive  many  a  serviceable 
waif  to  the  shore  ;  and  seldom  a  winter  passes,  but  some 
valuable  wreck  or  dereUct  property  adds  to  my  kinsman's 
limited    resources.     True,    these    "  angel    visits  "    are 


DEPARTURE   FROM   CONNAUGHT.  367 

irregular,  and  come  in  questionable  shape  ;  but  still, 
be  they  in  form  of  butter  or  rum,  train-oil  or  mahogany, 
they  answer  **  for  the  nonce,"  and  even  a  dead  body 
has  not  been  profitless  to  the  finder. 

I  possibly  have  thus  digressed  from  having  witnessed 
the  triumphant  arrival  of  a  huge  beam  of  Dantzic  oak 
and  a  ship's  topmast,  which  certain  retainers  of  my 
gentle  cousin  have  towed  in.  It  appears  that  these 
"  spolia  opima  "  were  discovered  early  in  the  morning 
about  the  centre  of  the  bay,  and  a  boat  from  both  shores 
approached  them  nearly  at  the  same  time.  Both,  Uke 
true  vassals,  claimed  on  behalf  of  the  respective  master  ; 
and  it  being  impossible,  on  what  an  Irishman  would 
very  naturally  term  "  debateable  land,"  to  settle  the 
question  of  property,  the  respective  crews  fought  the 
thing  fairly  out,  and  my  kinsman's  representatives, 
being  men  of  thews  and  sinews,  after  breaking  two  heads, 
and  chucking  one  gentleman  of  "  the  Capulets  "  over- 
board, brought  the  godsends  safely  hither.  Law  there 
will  be,  of  course.  The  rival  claimant  was  formerly  an 
attorney,  who  managed  to  spoliate  an  unhappy  fool 
who  was  litigiously  inclined,  and,  of  course,  became 
owner  of  the  property.  He  who  thus  gets  them  will  be 
most  tenacious  of  ill-acquired  rights  ;  and  this  log  and 
spar  will  most  likely  terminate  in  being  made  a  droit 
of  the  Admiralty. 

We  started  on  our  last  chasse — and  the  ultima  dies  of  our 
sporting  wanderings  has  come.  The  shortened  days 
and  wet  moors  have  made  us  desert  grouse-shooting, 
and  we  crossed  the  estuary  to  shoot  a  fen  some  three 
miles  off,  which  at  this  season  is  thickly  tenanted  with 
snipes  and  waterfowl. 

The  day  was  particularly  favourable ;  dark  and  quiet, 


368  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

with  a  gentle  breeze.  As  we  had  to  traverse  a  hill 
which  bounds  the  tillage-grounds  of  several  of  the 
opposite  villages,  we  brought  the  greyhounds  with  us, 
to  get  a  run  or  two  while  passing  this  otherwise  unpro- 
fitable beat.  For  my  own  part  I  had  early  given  up 
coursing  in  disgust.  The  hares  were  not  plenty — 
difficult  to  find — and  when  we  did  get  them  a-foot,  they 
either  made  for  the  sea-shore,  or  ran  into  some  morass, 
where  dogs  had  no  chance  whatever,  and  one  became 
weary  of  seeing  them  cut  themselves  on  rocks,  or  flounder 
in  a  bog  ;  and  latterly  I  gave  up  the  business  as  a  bad 
concern.  But  on  this  occasion  I  was  agreeably  disap- 
pointed. The  hill  afforded  a  sound  and  level  surface  ; 
from  its  contiguity  to  the  cornfields,  the  hares  were 
tolerably  numerous,  and  before  we  reached  the  shooting- 
ground,  we  had  had  six  excellent  courses,  and  killed 
four  hares. 

I  never  observed  a  more  striking  contrast  in  point 
of  size  than  these  hares  exhibited.  Two  of  them  were 
of  the  smallest  mountain  class  ;  dark-coloured,  meagre 
animals,  who  certainly  made  matchless  running  while 
they  lasted.  The  others  were  of  the  fullest  size,  and 
in  point  of  good  condition,  though  neither  so  large  nor 
so  white  as  Byron's,  would  have  done  honour  to  any 
hare-park  in  Great  Britain. 

The  fen  we  sought  was  situate  in  a  valley  between 
two  gentle  slopes,  and  formed  by  a  deep  and  sluggish 
stream  which  passed  through  its  centre,  extended  for 
about  four  miles,  varying  its  breadth  from  a  few  yards 
to  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  The  morass  was 
interspersed  with  shrubs  and  underwood,  and  alders  of 
inconsiderable  size  were  occasionally  clumped  along 
the  borders.     Part  of  the  surface  was  too  unsound  to 


DEPARTURE   FROM   CONN  AUGHT.  369 

admit  its  being  traversed  by  the  lightest  foot,  but  generally 
it  was  broken  into  tammocks,  which  a  bold  and  prac- 
tised shooter  might  pass  with  little  difficulty.  We 
took  opposite  sides,  and  consequently  few  birds  sprang 
without  affording  one  or  the  other  of  the  guns  a  fair 
shot.  The  number  of  snipes  that  flushed  in  this  fen 
went  far  beyond  my  expectation,  though  considerably 
excited  ;  and,  besides,  we  met  at  least  fifteen  couple 
of  that  sweet  little  duck,  the  Teal.  We  followed  the 
morass  to  its  extremity,  and  then  returned — and  our 
beat  homewards  was  pleasanter,  and,  so  far  as  the  game- 
bags  went,  more  profitable  than  the  first  range. 

Out  of  seventy  head,  we  reckoned  one  woodcock  and 
a  brace  of  old  stagers  that  we  found  among  the  heathy 
banks  bordering  the  fen.  We  shot  six  couple  of  teal ; 
and,  with  one  exception,  the  remainder  of  the  count 
were  snipes,  of  which  at  least  a  fourth  were  jacks.  In 
the  most  impassable  section  of  the  morass,  old  York 
pointed  with  more  than  customary  steadiness  ;  and, 
"  it  might  be  fancy,"  actually  looked  round  with  peculiar 
expression,  as  if  he  would  intimate  that  no  common 
customer  was  before  him  !  I  got  within  twenty  yards 
and  encouraged  the  old  setter  to  go  in  ;  but  he  turned 
his  grizzled  and  intelligent  eyes  to  mine,  and  wagged 
his  tail  as  if  he  would  have  said,  "  Lord  !  you  don't 
know  what  I  have  here."  A  tuft  of  earth  flung  by 
one  of  the  aides-de-camp,  obliged  the  skulker  to  get  up, 
and  to  our  general  surprise  a  fine  bittern  arose.  I 
knocked  him  over,  but  though  he  came  down  with  a 
broken  wing  and  wounded  leg,  he  kept  the  old  dog  at 
bay  until  my  companion  floundered  through  the  swamp 
and  secured  him.  On  this  exploit  I  plumed  myself, 
for  bitterns  are  here  extremely  scarce,  and  in  Ballycroy 
they  are  seldom  heard  or  found. 

I   R 


370  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

On  our  return  home  we  passed  the  old  castle  of  Doona, 
once  supposed  to  have  been  honoured  by  the  residence  of 
Mrs.  Grace  O'Malley,  who,  if  fame  tells  truth,  was 
neither  a  rigid  moralist  nor  over-particular  in  her  ideas 
of  *'  meum  and  tuum."  Some  wild  traditions  ?re 
handed  down  of  her  exploits ;  and  her  celebrated 
visit  to  that  English  vixen,  Elizabeth,  is  fairly  on  record. 
The  castle  of  Doona  was,  till  a  few  years  since,  in  excel- 
lent preservation,  and  its  masonry  was  likely  to  have 
puzzled  Father  Time  himself ;  but  Irish  ingenuity 
achieved  in  a  few  hours  what  as  many  centuries  had 
hitherto  failed  in  effecting. 

A  rich  and  hospitable  farmer,*  whose  name  will  be 
long  remembered  in  this  remote  spot,  had  erected  a 
comfortable  dwelling  immediately  adjoining  the  court- 
yard wall  of  the  ancient  fortress  ;  and  against  the  tower 
itself  was  piled  in  wealthy  profusion  a  huge  supply  of 
winter  fuel.  It  was  a  night  of  high  solemnity,  for  his 
first-born  son  was  christened.  No  wonder  then  that 
all  within  the  house  were  drunk  as  lords.  Turf  was 
wanted,  and  one  of  the  boys  was  despatched  for  a  cleave- 
ful — but  though  Patt  could  clear  a  fair,  and  "  bear  as 
much  beating  as  a  bull,"  he  was  no  man  to  venture 
into  the  old  tower  in  the  dark,  *'  and  it  haunted." 
Accordingly,  to  have  fair  play,  "  if  the  ghost  gripped 
him,"  he  provided  himself  with  a  brand  of  burning 
bog-deal.  No  goblin  assailed  him,  and  he  filled  his 
basket  and  returned  unharmed  to  the  company,  but, 
unfortunately  forgot  the  light  behind  him.  The  result 
may  be  anticipated.  The  turf  caught  fire,  and  from  the 
intense  heat  of  such  a  mass  of  fuel,  the  castle  walls  were 
rent  from  top  to  bottom,  and  one  side  fell  before  morning 

*  John  Conway. 


DEPARTURE  FROM   CONN  AUGHT.  37 1 

with  a  crash  like  thunder.  Nor  was  the  calamity  con- 
fined to  fallen  tower  and  lost  fuel.  Alas  !  several  kegs 
and  ankers  of  contraband  spirits  were  buried  beneath 
the  walls,  and  the  huge  masses  of  masonry  that  came 
down  burst  the  concealed  casks  of  Cognac  and  Schiedam. 

We  found  the  warrener  netting  rabbits  in  the  sand 
banks.  They  were  intended  for  sale  in  the  interior, 
and  many  dozens  were  already  taken.  Formerly  the 
skins  were  valuable,  and  a  well-stocked  burrow  was  a 
valuable  appendage  to  a  country  gentleman  ;  but  of  late 
these  furs  have  fallen  so  considerably  in  value,  that  the 
warren  does  not  produce  a  tithe  of  what  it  did  **  when 
Boney,  the  Lord  speed  him  !  was  uppermost."  Indeed, 
many  a  hearty  lament  is  made  in  Ballycroy  for  poor 
Napoleon,  and  his  name  is  ever  associated  with  times 
of  past  prosperity. 

I  cannot  describe  the  melancholy  reflections  which 
crowded  over  my  mind,  as  I  squibbed  off  my  barrels  on 
the  beach,  while  the  boat  was  crossing  the  channel  to 
carry  us  over  the  estuary.  It  was  for  the  last  time,  and 
with  that  thought,  all  the  happy  events  I  spent  by 
''  flood  and  fell  "  passed  over  my  memory  in  '*  shadowy 
review."  The  jovial  commander,  the  burly  priest,  my 
merry  cousin,  the  stern  homicide,  the  ancient  butler, 
and  the  defunct  otter-killer,  all  were  before  me.  I 
trod  in  fancy  the  banks  of  Pullgarrow,  or  couched  among 
the  rocks  of  our  highland  ambuscade  ;  I  saw  the  startled 
pack  spring  from  the  purple  heather,  while  the  red  deer, 

I^ike  crested  leader  proud  and  high, 
Toss'd  his  beam'd  frontlet  to  the  sky  ; 
A  moment  gaz'd  adown  the  dale, 
A  moment  snuff'd  the  tainted  gale — 

and  vanished  in  the  rocky  pass  of  Meeltramoe.     My 
imaginary  wanderings  continued  till  we  landed  at  the 


372  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

pier,  and  with  a  deep  sigh,  1  hastened  to  my  chamber, 
to  make,  for  the  last  time,  my  toilet  after  a  day  of  sylvan 
exercise. 

Morning — the  last  morning  has  arrived,  and  all 
is  bustle  and  packing  up.  Travers,  though  a  cold- 
blooded Englishman  who  scarcely  can  tell  a  grouse  from 
a  game-cock,  seems  to  feel  regret  at  leaving  this  hospitable 
cabin — old  John  is  sensibly  affected — and  Alice's  black 
eyes  are  dim  with  weeping.  For  once  she  kissed  me 
without  coquetry,  and  as  she  received  my  farewell 
present,  invoked  the  Lord  to  bless  me  with  such 
unaffected  ardour  as  proved  that  her  fervent  benison 
came  warmly  from  the  heart. 

Over  the  parting  with  this  rude  but  affectionate 
family  I  shall  hurry.  My  cousin  accompanied  me  to 
Westport,  and  we  left  the  Lodge  after  an  early  dinner, 
in  full  expectation  of  reaching  that  town  for  supper 
though  the  distance  is  some  ten  or  twelve  leagues,  and 
by  an  intricate  passage  with  very  difficult  and  perplexing 
tides.  As  if  fortune  wished  to  offer  me  a  parting  com- 
pliment, the  wind  blew  from  the  north-west,  and  there 
was  as  much  of  it  as  we  could  well  carry  our  full  sails  to. 
We  entered  the  Bull's  Mouth  at  three-quarter  tide, 
and  brought  plenty  of  water  over  the  sands,  and  in  an 
hour  cleared  the  Sound,  and  rushing  through  the  boiling 
currents  of  Bearnaglee,  found  ourselves  in  Clew  Bay. 
The  wind  blew  fresh  and  steadily,  and  at  nine  o'clock 
we  were  moored  along  the  quay  of  Westport. 

One  incident  occurred  :  at  a  rocky  point  which  ran 
from  the  Achil  side  into  the  Sound,  and  there  narrowed 
the  channel  considerably,  we  observed  a  human  being 
couched  on  a  stone  among  the  sea- weed.  The  deep 
water  passed  within  an  oar's  length  of  the  spot,  and  as 


DEPARTURE   FROM    CONNAUGHT.  373 

the  boat  flew  like  a  falcon  past  the  point,  the  man  rose 
and  hailed  us.  We  hove  the  hooker  to.  It  was 
Hennessey — and  nothing  could  dissuade  him,  not- 
withstanding the  risk  was  considerable,  from  coming 
on  board  to  give  me  a  parting  escort. 

Early  next  morning  I  found  myself  in  his  majesty's 
mail,  and  with  many  a  sincere  adieu,  bade  farewell  to 
my  kind  cousin  and  his  wild  but  warm-hearted  followers. 


374  WILD   SPORTS  OF  THE   WEST 


CHAPTER    XL. 


Here  I  am,  safely  over  the  Shannon :  a  laudable 
improvement  in  the  mode  and  rate  of  travelling  of  the 
Westport  mail  facilitates  one's  intercourse  with  the 
kingdom  of  Connaught ;  and  in  course  of  time  I  have 
little  doubt  but  Erris  will  be  as  approachable  as  Upper 
Canada,  or  any  of  the  remoter  provinces 

After  my  rambling  observations  upon  men  and 
manners,  you  must  permit  me,  like  the  last  lawyer  in 
a  cause,  to  condense  the  evidence,  and  make  a  general 
wind-up. 

With  regard  to  the  moral  condition  of  the  West,  I 
cannot  conscientiously  assert  that  any  great  improve- 
ment will  be  traced  for  the  last  half-century.  The 
two  great  classes,  the  gentry  and  peasantry,  have 
undergone  a  mighty  revolution  in  conduct,  manners, 
and  modes  of  thinking  ;  and  yet  one  will  look  in  vain 
for  commensurate  advantages.  It  is  admitted  that  the 
former  body  have  changed  their  generic  character 
altogether.  We  have  the  old  school  stigmatized  now 
for  its  aristocratic  tyranny  and  petty  assumption  ;  and 
many  a  modern  squire  blesses  God  that  he  is  not  as 
others  were  who  preceded  him.  And  yet  our  fathers 
were,  I  verily  believe,  wiser  in  their  generation,  and 
better  fitted  for  their  own  times,  than  we.  True,  these 
days  were  little  better  than  barbarous.  Denis  Browne, 
and  Dick  Martin,  and  Bowes  Daly,  and  many  a  far- 
famed  name  of  minor  note,  were  then  in  all  their  glory, 
and  they  lived,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  in  very  curious 
times.  In  those  days  the  qualifications  of  a  repre- 
sentative were  determined  by  wager  of  battle,  and  a 


THE  WEST,    PAST    AND   PRESENT.  375 

rival  tor  senatorial  fame  was  probably  requested  by  the 
old  member  to  provide  his  coffin  before  he  addressed 
the  county.  Doctors  rode  on  horseback  over  the 
country  in  cauliflower  wigs  and  cocked  hats  ;  and  if 
they  differed  about  a  dose  or  decoction,  referred  the 
dispute  to  moral  arbitrament.  In  these  happy  times, 
a  client  would  shoot  his  counsellor  if  he  lost  a  cause — 
the  suitor  sought  his  mistress  at  pistol-point — and 
there  was  but  one  universal  panacea  for  every  known 
evil,  one  grand  remedy  for  all  injuries  and  insults. 

It  was  then,  indeed,  a  bustling  world.  Men  fought 
often,  drank  deep,  and  played  high  ;  ran  in  debt,  as  a 
matter  of  course  ;  scattered  fairs  and  markets  at  their 
good  pleasure  ;  put  tenants  in  the  stocks  ad  lihitutn ; 
and  cared  no  more  for  the  liberty  of  the  subject  than  they 
did  for  the  king's  writ.  Yet  were  they  merry  times. 
Under  all  these  desperate  oppressions,  the  tenants 
throve  and  the  peasantry  were  comfortable.  Every 
village  could  point  out  its  rich  man — every  cabin  had 
food  sufficient  for  its  occupants.  When  the  rent  was 
required  it  was  ready  ;  and  though  a  man  was  sometimes 
in  the  guard -house,  his  cow  was  rarely  in  the  pound. 
Tempora  mutantur !  Who  dare  now  infringe  upon 
the  Uberty  of  the  subject  }  "  Who  put  my  man  i'  the 
stocks  ?  "  would  be  hallooed  from  Dingle  to  Cape  Clear. 
Doubtless,  civil  rights  are  now  most  scrupulously  pro- 
tected ;  but  I  suspect  that  food  is  abridged  in  about 
the  same  proportion  that  freedom  is  extended. 

There  was  one  class  of  persons  who,  in  these  old- 
world  times,  were  conspicuously  troublesome,  who  have 
since  then  fortunately  disappeared.  These  were  a 
nominal  description  of  gentry,  the  proprietors  of  little 
properties   called  fodeeinSy   who   continued   the   names 


376  WILD  SPORTS  OF   THE  WEST. 

and  barbarisms  of  their  progenitors.  Without  industry, 
without  education,  they  arrogated  a  certain  place  in 
society,  and  idly  imitated  the  wealthier  in  their  vices. 
Poverty  and  distress  were  natural  results,  and  desperate 
means  were  used  to  keep  up  appearances.  The  wretched 
serfs,  whom  they  called  their  tenants,  were  ground 
to  powder,  till,  happily  for  society,  the  jodeeins  passed 
into  other  hands,  and  the  name  and  place  ceased  to  be 
remembered.  The  ivied  walls,  and  numerous  and 
slender  chimneys  one  sees  in  passing  through  this 
country,  will,  in  nine  out  of  ten  cases,  point  a  moral 
of  this  sort. 

In  times  like  those  of  forty  years  ago,  this  extinct 
tribe  were,  from  the  peculiar  temper  and  formation  of 
society,  occasionally  a  sad  nuisance.  The  lord  of  a 
fodeein,  like  Captain  Mac  Turk,  was  "  precisely  that 
sort  of  person  who  is  ready  to  fight  with  anyone  ;  whom 
no  one  can  find  an  apology  for  declining  to  fight  with ; 
in  fighting  with  whom  considerable  danger  is  incurred  ; 
and,  lastly,  through  fighting  with  whom  no  iclat  or 
credit  could  redound  to  the  antagonist."  Hence, 
generally,  the  larger  proprietors  saw  this  class  sink  by 
degrees,  without  an  attempt  to  uphold  them,  and  the 
jodeein,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  unhappy  devils  who  farmed 
it,  was  appended  by  general  consent  to  the  next  estate. 

Many  examples  of  dangerous  and  illegal  authority, 
as  usurped  and  exercised  by  the  aristocracy  within  the 
last  half-century,  are  on  record,  that  would  appear 
mere  romance  to  a  stranger.  One  of  the  Fitzgerald 
family  was  probably  more  remarkable  than  any  person 
of  his  times.  He  was  the  terror  of  the  upper  classes — 
and  to  such  as  arrogated  the  privileges  of  the  aristocracy, 
without,    as   he    opined,    a   prescriptive   right,   he   was 


THE  WEST,   PAST    AND   PRESENT.  377 

the  very  devil.  If  a  man  aspired  to  become  a  duellist, 
or  even  joined  the  hounds  without  being  the  proper 
caste,  George  Robert  would  flog  him  from  the  field  with- 
out ceremony.  He  actually  for  years  maintained  an 
armed  banditti,  imprisoned  his  own  father,  took  off 
persons  who  were  obnoxious — and  when  he  was  hanged 
— and  fortunately  for  society  this  eventually  occurred 
— it  required  a  grand  cavalry  and  artillery  movement 
from  Athlone  to  effect  it. 

Denis  Browne  was  an  autocrat  of  another  description  ; 
a  useful  blundering  bear,  who  did  all  as  religiously  in 
the  king's  name  as  ever  Musselman  in  that  of  the  prophet. 
He  did  much  good  and  some  mischief — imprisoned 
and  transported  as  he  pleased  ;  and  the  peasantry  to 
this  day  will  tell  you  that  he  could  hang  anyone  whom 
he  disliked.  Yet  both  these  men  were  favourites  with 
their  tenantry,  and  under  them  their  dependents  pros- 
pered and  waxed  wealthy. 

Sometimes  the  memoir  of  an  individual  will  give  a 
more  graphic  picture  of  the  age  wherein  he  flourished 
than  a  more  elaborate  detail ;  and  in  the  strange  eventful 
histories  of  these  two  singular  men,  the  leading 
characters  of  their  times  will  be  best  portrayed. 

No  persons  were  more  dissimilar — none  were  bitterer 
enemies — none  in  every  point,  personal  and  physical, 
were  more  essentially  opposite.  In  one  point  alone 
there  was  a  parallel — both  were  tyrants  in  disposition, 
and  both  would  possess  power,  and  no  matter  at  what 
price. 

George  Robert  Fitzgerald  was  middle-sized,  and 
slightly  but  actively  formed  ;  his  features  were  regular, 
his  address  elegant,  and  his  manners  formed  in  the 
best    style    of    the     French     school.       In    vain    the 


378  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

physiognomist  would  seek  in  his  handsome  countenance 
for  some  trace  of  that  fierce  and  turbulent  disposition 
which  marked  his  short  and  miserable  career.  No  one, 
when  he  pleased  it,  could  delight  society  more  ;  and 
with  the  fair  sex  he  was  proverbially  successful.  It 
is  said  that  gallantry,  however,  was  not  his  forte,  and 
that  he  seldom  used  his  persuasive  powers  with  women, 
but  for  objects  ultimately  pecuniary  or  ambitious. 

Added  to  his  external  advantages,  he  was  an  educated 
man  ;  and  that  he  possessed  no  mean  literary  talent 
may  be  inferred  from  his  celebrated  ''  Apology,"  which 
is  neatly  and  spiritedly  written. 

His  courage  was  undoubted.  In  Paris  and  London 
he  was  noted  as  a  duellist ;  and  in  Mayo,  his  personal 
encounters  are  still  remembered.  His  duel  with  Doctor 
Martin,  his  encounter  with  Csesar  French,  the  most 
notorious  fire-eaters  of  the  day,  placed  him  foremost 
in  that  class.  He  was,  moreover,  a  dead  shot,  and 
reported  to  be  one  of  the  ablest  swordsmen  in  the 
kingdom.  As  a  sportsman  he  was  justly  celebrated. 
He  was  an  elegant  horseman,  and  his  desperate  riding 
was  the  theme  of  fox-hunters  for  many  a  year.  No 
park-wall  or  flooded  river  stopped  him — and  to  this 
day,  leaps  that  he  surmounted,  and  points  where  he 
crossed  the  Turlough  river,  are  pointed  out  by  the 
peasantry. 

The  dark  acts  which  clouded  his  memory,  and  his 
unhappy  fate,  are  generally  known  ;  and  considering 
the  other  traits  of  his  strange  and  mingling  character 
the  apology  offered  by  his  friends  on  the  score  of 
occasional  insanity,  is  not  improbable.  One  circum- 
stance would  strengthen  this  conclusion.  He  was 
interred  by  night,  and  with  so  much  privacy,  in  the 


THE  WEST,   PAST   AND   PRESENT.  379 

old  churchyard  of  Turlough,  that  the  place  where  his 
remains  lay  was  for  a  time  uncertain.  Accident  in  some 
degree  revealed  it.  In  the  confusion  attendant  upon 
his  hurried  sepulture,  it  is  said  that  a  ring  was  forgotten 
and  left  upon  the  finger.  Afterwards,  in  opening 
the  ground,  this  relic  was  discovered  ;  and  what  more 
satisfactorily  proved  it  was  that  the  skull  was  distinctly 
fractured  ;  and  it  was  a  matter  well  known,  that 
Fitzgerald  had  been  dangerously  wounded  by  a  pistol- 
bullet  in  the  head,  in  one  of  his  numerous  and  sanguinary 
duels  on  the  continent. 

Denis  Browne,  when  a  young  man,  is  said  to  have 
been  extremely  handsome  :  but  early  in  life  he  became 
corpulent  and  engrossed  in  other  pursuits,  generally 
careless  and  slovenly  in  his  person,  and  neglected  any 
means  to  restrain  his  constitutional  obesity.  To  strong, 
natural  abilities  he  united  decision  of  character  and 
mental  energy.  He  started  in  dangerous  times  ;  several 
influential  families  disputed  political  power  with  him — 
he  had  a  fierce  and  dangerous  aristocracy  to  overcome 
— men  cold  to  every  argument  "  but  the  last  and  worst 
one,"  the  pistol.  Hence  in  the  very  outset  of  his  voyage, 
his  vessel  all  but  foundered.  It  was  his  first  contest 
for  the  county,  and  he  was  opposed  by  the  late  Lord 
Clanmorris.  The  Bingham  party  was  bold  and  powerful, 
and  after  a  protracted  contest,  matters  looked  gloomily 
enough,  and  the  Brownes  were  likely  to  be  defeated. 

"  In  this  dilemma,'*  to  use  his  own  words,  **  I  have 

applied  to  Counsellor  ,  my  legal  adviser.     1  told 

him  how  badly  things  were,  and  inquired  what  was  to 
be  done  ? 

**  '  My  dear  Denis,'  said  he,  with  a  grave  and  serious 
movement  of  his  full-bottomed  wig,  *  the  thing  admits 


380  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

but  one  remedy,  and  that  lies  in  a  nut-shell.  You 
are  one-and-twenty  years  old,  and  you  have  never  yet 
been  on  the  sod — why  that  one  fact  would  lose  you 
your  election — you  must  fight — my  dear  boy.' 

"  '  Fight !   to  be  sure  I  will,  when  I'm  insulted.' 

**  *  Of  course  you  would,  and  so  would  anybody  ; 
but  you  must  fight,  and  that,  too,  this  very  evening.' 

"  '  Impossible  !   how  could  it  be  managed  ? ' 

"  '  How  !  arrah  whihst,  Denis  ! — maybe  ye  think 
1  have  nothing  but  law  in  my  head  ;  you  must  knock 
down  Bingham  !  ' 

"  *  Knock  down  a  man  who  never  offended  me — with 
whom  1  have  no  dispute  ? ' 

"  *  And  what  does  this  matter  ?  The  blow  will 
settle  that  difficulty.  But  as  you  are  particular,  can't 
ye  say  some  friend  of  his  affronted  one  of  yours — some 
devil  you  never  heard  of  will  answer — and  as  John 
Bingham  is  a  reasonable  man,  he'd  not  lose  time  in 
asking  idle  questions.' 

"  Accordingly,  I  followed  this  excellent  advice,  struck 
Bingham  on  the  steps  of  the  court-house,  was  called 
out  in  half  an  hour,  fought  in  the  barrack  yard,  was 
there  wounded,  and  won  my  election." 

From  that  period  Denis  Browne  rose  rapidly  into 
power.  His  able  brother,  the  late  Marquis  of  Sligo, 
supported  him  with  all  his  influence  and  talent.  Denis 
overcame  every  obstacle,  distanced  every  competitor, 
and  at  last  was  absolute  in  authority,  dictator  for  twenty 
years,  and  ruled  the  county  during  that  period  with  a 
rod  of  iron. 

No  one  was  warmer  in  his  friendship  or  more  virulent 
in  his  antipathies.  These  feelings  blinded  his  better 
judgment,    and    many   of  his   greatest  mistakes   arose 


THE  WEST,   PAST    AND   PRESENT.  381 

from  an  anxiety  to  aggrandize  a  favourite  or  annoy  an 
enemy.  He  unfortunately  outlived  his  power,  and  that 
circumstance  embittered  his  latter  years.  He  had  not 
resolution  to  quit  public  life  while  he  might  have  retired 
with  eclat ;  he  saw  his  influence  expire,  and  his  power 
partitioned  insensibly  among  men  with  whom,  but  a 
few  years  before,  his  will  was  law. 

In  private  life  Denis  Browne  was  cheerful  and 
hospitable.  Full  of  anecdote,  an  excellent  story-teller, 
one  who  had  mixed  largely  with  the  world  and  knew 
mankind  intimately,  he  was  an  amusing  and  instructive 
companion.  Young  and  lively  society  he  delighted  in  ; 
and  though,  from  increased  corpulency,  and  all  **  the 
ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to,"  Ufe  was  latterly  a  burden,  the 
mind  was  vigorous  to  the  last — and  the  death-bed 
of  Denis  Browne  was  marked  with  a  firmness  and 
philosophy  that  was  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  energy 
and  determination  of  his  life. 

Another  order  of  things  has  succeeded.  Men  talk 
now  with  horror  of  acts  of  oppression  and  arbitrary 
power,  which  then  every  country  justice  committed ; 
but  after  all,  the  times  have  changed  for  the  worse — 
and  the  outcry  about  invaded  rights  and  an  enslaved 
population,  was,  after  all,  mere  verbiage,  "  signifying 
nothing." 

The  last  fading  gleam  of  western  prosperity  was 
during  the  power  of  Napoleon,  and  with  his  dynasty 
it  vanished.  The  terrible  change  from  war  to  peace  ; 
the  bursting  of  the  banking  bubbles,  which  supplied 
for  that  time  an  imaginary  capital  ;  over-population 
and  high  rents,  have  ruined  this  wild  district,  and 
reduced  its  peasantry,  with  few  exceptions,  to  abject 
wretchedness  and  want. 


382  WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

Is  there  for  this  any  remedy  ?  Cannot  modern 
landlords,  acting  on  what  they  call  enlightened  principles, 
remove  the  causes  of  distress,  and  restore  the  peasantry 
to  that  scale  of  comfort  they  enjoyed  under  the  rude 
and  tyrannical  regime  of  their  fathers  ?  They  cannot. 
They  will  talk  "  scholarly  "  of  tithes  and  local 
taxation,  and  vainly  attribute  the  insolvency  of  their 
tenants  to  these  and  such  like  causes  ;  this  is  'vox  et 
prater ea  nihil — an  unreal  and  fanciful  conceit.  The 
true  cause  of  the  misery  of  the  western  population  is 
over-population  and  excessive  rents  ;  and  before  the 
peasantry  could  be  tolerably  comfortable,  the  lands 
must,  on  the  average,  be  lowered  at  least  one-third 
Even  then,  at  present  prices,  the  occupant  will  be  hardly 
able  to  manage  to  pay  the  rent  and  live. 

But  can  the  landlords  do  this  }  Can  they  afford  to 
equalize  their  rental  to  the  times,  and  throw  a  third 
portion  from  their  nominal  income  overboard  ?  They 
cannot.  The  majority  of  the  owners  of  western  estates, 
from  family  burdens  and  national  unthriftiness,  are 
heavily  and  hopelessly  encumbered  ;  and  a  reduction 
on  such  scale  as  would  be  necessary  to  ensure  the^r 
tenants'  comforts,  would  completely  pauperize 
themselves.  Hence,  to  keep  off  the  evil  day,  every 
pretext  but  the  true  one  will  be  assigned  for  local 
wretchedness — and  every  reason  but  the  right  one 
offered  to  the  starving  tenant,  to  persuade  him  that 
ruinous   rents  will   never  occasion  want  and   poverty. 

In  personal  appearance,  the  western  peasantry  are 
very  inferior  to  those  of  the  other  divisions  of  the 
kingdom.  Generally,  they  are  undersized  and  by  no 
means  so  good-looking  as  their  southern  neighbours — 
and  I  would  say,  in  other  points  they  are  equally  deficient. 


THE  WEST,    PAST    AND   PRESENT.  383 

To  overcome  their  early  lounging  gait  and  slovenly 
habits,  is  found  by  military  men  a  troublesome  task  ; 
and  while  the  Tipperary  man  speedily  passes  through 
the  hands  of  the  drill-sergeant,  the  Mayo  peasant  requires 
a  long  and  patient  ordeal,  before  a  martial  carriage 
can  be  acquired,  and  he  be  perfectly  set-up  as  a  soldier. 
These  defects  once  conquered,  none  are  better  cal- 
culated for  the  profession.  Hardy,  active,  patient 
in  wet  and  cold,  and  accustomed  to  indifferent  and 
irregular  food,  he  is  admirably  adapted  to  endure  the 
privations  and  fatigue  incident  to  a  soldier's  life  on 
active  service — and  in  dash  and  daring,  no  regiments 
in  the  service  hold  a  prouder  place  than  those  which 
appertain  to  the  kingdom  of  Connaught. 

It  is  said  that  the  physical  appearance  of  the  Irish 
peasantry  deteriorates  as  the  northern  and  western 
sea-coasts  are  approached  ;  and,  certainly,  on  the 
latter  the  population  are  very  inferior  to  that  of  the 
adjacent  counties.  Even  the  inhabitants  of  different 
baronies  in  the  same  county,  as  their  locality  advances 
inland,  will  be  found  to  differ  materially  ;  and  in  an 
extensive  cattle-fair,  the  islander  will  be  as  easily  dis- 
tinguished from  the  borderer,  whether  he  be  on  the 
Galway  or  Roscommon  frontier,  as  from  the  stock- 
master  of  Leinster,  or  the  jobber  from  the  North. 

Indeed,  fifty  years  back,  the  communication  between 
the  islands  and  the  interior  was  so  difficult  and 
unfrequent,  that  the  respective  occupants  looked  on 
each  other  as  very  strangers.  Naturally,  slowly  as 
civilization  crept  westward,  the  islands  and  remoter 
coasts,  from  local  causes,  were  last  visited,  and  many 
curious  circumstances  to  this  day  would  prove  it.  In 
this  age  of  machinery,  when  the  minutest  matters  are 


384  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WESlT. 

produced  by  its  agencies,  and  the  lowest  occupations 
of  human  labour  are  transacted  by  powers  unknown 
to  our  fathers,  there  are  extensive  tracts  upon  the  western 
portions  of  the  island,  where  even  a  mill  has  never 
been  erected,  and  where  the  corn  is  prepared  for  distil- 
lation or  food  by  the  same  rude  methods  used  by 
barbarous  nations  one  thousand  years  ago.  Trituration 
between  two  stones,  by  the  hand  labour  of  an  individual, 
is  the  means  employed  to  reduce  the  corn  into  meal  ; 
and  the  use  of  that  ancient  hand-mill  the  querne,  is  still 
general  throughout  Ballycroy  and  the  islands  on  the 
coast. 

The  inhabitants  of  this  district  are  extremely  hos- 
pitable to  passing  travellers,  but  by  no  means  fond  of 
encouraging  strangers  to  sojourn  permanently  among 
them.  This  latter  inherent  prejudice  may  arise  from 
clannish  feelings,  or  ancient  recollections  of  how  much 
their  ancestors  were  spoliated  by  former  settlers,  who 
by  artifice  and  the  strong  hand  managed  to  possess  the 
better  portions  of  the  country.  They  are  also  absurdly 
curious  and  will  press  their  questions  with  American 
pertinacity,  until,  if  possible,  the  name,  rank,  and 
occasion  of  his  visit,  is  fully  and  faithfully  detailed 
by  the  persecuted  traveller. 

The  credulity  of  these  wild  people  is  amazing,  and 
their  avidity  for  news,  if  possible,  exceeded  by  the 
profound  reliance  they  place  in  the  truth  of  the  intel- 
ligence. Hence,  the  most  absurd  versions  of  passing 
events  circulate  over  the  district — and  reports  prevail, 
by  turns,  of  a  ridiculous  or  mischievous  tendency, 
generally  according  to  the  mental  temperament  of  the 
story-teller. 

It  formerly  was  not  uncommon  for  people  in  the 


THE   WEST,    PAST    AND   PRESENT.  385 

islands  to  live  and  die  without  ever  having  seen  a  town. 
Of  course,  they  were  a  simple  and  unsophisticated 
race — and  their  natural  mistakes,  if  they  did  by  accident 
come  in  collision  with  other  beings,  were  the  source 
of  many  an  inland  jest.  One  very  old  story  is  told, 
in  which  an  Achil  man  is  the  hero  ;  and  as  to  its  truth, 
old  Antony  would  as  soon  have  doubted  the  existence 
of  the  holy  trout  in  Kilgeever,*  as  have  questioned  its 
authenticity. 

An  islander  was  once  obliged  to  go  into  the  town  of 
Castlebar  upon  business  ;  and  among  other  marvellous 
things  which  there  met  his  sight,  he  was  particularly 
struck  with  the  appearance  of  an  earthen  jar  in  a  shop- 
window.  He  inquired  what  this  unknown  article  might 
be,  and  was  informed  that  it  was  a  mare's  egg,  which 
if  placed  beside  the  fire  during  the  winter,  would  infal- 
libly produce  a  foal  the  ensuing  spring.  The  price 
was  moderate,  and  the  Achil  man  determined  to  possess 
the  treasure,  and  thus  become  master  of  a  horse.  Having 
effected  the  purchase,  he  set  out  on  his  way  rejoicing 
— and  before  evening  fell,  came  within  view  of  his  own 
home,  and  sat  down  upon  a  heathy  bank  to  rest  himself. 
He  placed  his  recent  acquisition  beside  him — but  alas  ! 
from  its  spherical  form,  it  rolled  down  the  hill,  and, 
striking  against  a  rock  at  the  bottom,  was  shivered  by 
the  blow.  A  hare  which  had  couched  beneath  the  stone, 
startled  at  the  crash,  sprang  from  her  form,  and  went 
off  at  speed.  The  unhappy  Achil  man  gazed  in  an 
agony  of  despair,  after  what  he  believed  the  emancipated 
quadruped — and  then  exclaimed  with  a  bitter  groan, 
**  Mona   mon   diaoul !     What   a   horse   he    would    have 

*  A  sacred  well  in  the  west,  tenanted  by  a  trout  of  surpassing 
sanctity. 


386  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

been  ! — ^Lord  !    if  he  was  but  two  years  old  !    the  Devil 
himself  would  not  catch  him.'' 

Now,  the  most  curious  part  of  this  story  is,  that 
although  a  standing  joke  upon  Achil  simplicity  for  a 
century,  it  is  to  be  found  verbatim  in  a  German  jest- 
book,  with  this  only  difference,  that  a  gourd  is  there 
substituted  for  a  jar. 

In  alluding  to  the  strange  employments  of  the  female 
peasantry,  I  noticed  those  coarse  and  laborious  exercises 
which  elsewhere  are  confined  to  the  lords  of  the  creation. 
That  the  appearance  of  the  fair  inhabitants  of  the  western 
highlands  should  harmonize  with  their  rude  avocations 
might  be  expected  ;    and  hence  the  female  peasantry, 
in  personal  advantages,  are  very  inferior  indeed  to  those 
of  the   interior.     The   constant   exposure   to   sun   and 
storm  injures  the  complexion,  and  gives  them  an  old 
and  faded  look  ;   and  the  habit  of  dispensing  with  shoes 
renders    the    feet    large    and    misshapen.     Among    the 
Coryphees  who   frequented   our   mountain   balls,   there 
was  but  one  girl  who  might  be  termed  decidedly  hand- 
some.    Her  face  was  uncommonly  intelligent — I  never 
saw  so  dark  an  eye,  and  her  teeth  were  white  as  ivory. 
But  there  was  a  natural  ease  in  all  she  did — whether  she 
brought  a  pitcher  from  the  spring,  or  danced  a  merry 
strathspey,   every   movement  was   graceful.     Even   her 
simple  toilet  evinced  instinctive  taste,  though  no  corset 
was  required  to  regulate  a  form  moulded  by  the  hand 
of  Nature,  and  her  magnificent  hair  boasted  no  arrange- 
ment beyond  the  simple  cincture  of  a  ribbon — 

But  seldom  was  a  suood  amid 
Such  wild  luxuriant  ringlets  hid, 
Whose  glossy  black  to  shame  might  bring 
The  plumage  of  a  raven's  wing. 


THE    WEST,    PAST    AND    PRESENT.  387 

And  yet  I  have  seen  that  young  beauty  bending  beneath 
a  basket  of  potatoes  which  would  have  overloaded  me — 
and,  on  one  occasion,  carry  a  strapping  fellow  across 
the  river,  who  was  coming  on  some  state  affair  to  the 
cabin,  which,  as  he  conceived,  required  him  to  appear 
in  the  presence  with  dry  legs. 

On  the  score  of  propriety  of  conduct,  I  would  assign 
the  female  peasantry  of  this  district  a  high  place. 
When  the  habits  of  the  country  are  considered,  one 
would  be  inclined  to  suspect  that  excessive  drinking, 
and  the  frequent  scenes  of  nocturnal  festivities  which 
wakes  and  dances  present,  would  naturally  lead  to 
much  immorahty.  This,  however,  is  not  the  case  : — 
broken  vows  will  no  doubt  occasionally  require  the 
interference  of  the  magistrate  or  the  priest ;  but 
generally  the  lover  makes  the  only  reparation  in  his 
power,  and  the  deceived  females  and  deserted  children 
are  seldom  seen  in  Erris. 


388  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

If  ever  a  district  were  designed  by  Nature  for  field 
sports,  a  person,  from  even  a  cursory  glance  upon  the 
map,  would  point  to  Mayo.  Its  great  extent  of 
mountain  surface,  interspersed  with  bogs  and  morasses 
— its  numerous  and  expansive  waters — and  its  large 
tracts  of  downs  and  feeding-grounds,  render  it  available 
for  every  purpose  of  the  sportsman  ;  and  few  species 
of  game  indigenous  to  Britain,  in  their  peculiar 
seasons,  will  here  be  sought  in  vain. 

As  a  hunting  county,  the  plains  have  been  justly 
chronicled — and  the  adjacent  counties  of  Galway  and 
Roscommon  yield  to  none  in  the  empire.  The  extensive 
sheep-farms  afford  superior  galloping-ground — and  the 
fences,  though  few  and  far  between,  from  their  size 
and  character,  require  a  powerful  horse  and  dashing 
rider.  Hence,  in  the  annals  of  fox-hunting,  the  bipeds 
and  quadrupeds  of  Connaught  are  held  in  due  estima- 
tion ;  and  it  has  been  stated,  without  contradiction, 
that  in  their  own  country  no  men  or  horses  can  compete 
with    them. 

During  the  last  century,  the  West  of  Ireland  was 
celebrated  for  its  breed  of  horses.  They  were  of  that 
class  denominated  "  the  old  Irish  hunter," — a  strong, 
well-boned,  and  enduring  animal,  that  without  any 
pretension  to  extraordinary  speed,  was  sufficiently  fast 
for  fox-hounds,  an  excellent  weight-carrier,  and,  better 
still,  able  to  live  with  any  dogs  and  in  any  country. 
As  fencers^  this  breed  was  unequalled  ;  and  for  a  crack 
hunter  to  carry  ten  or  eleven  stone  over  six  feet  six  of 


HORSES    AND   HOUNDS.  389 

solid  masonry,  was  no  extraordinary  event ; — se'ven 
feet  has  been  achieved  repeatedly — and  there  are  still, 
1  have  no  doubt,  many  horses  in  the  province  capable 
of  performing  the  latter  feat.  But,  alas  !  this  noted 
class  of  hunters  is  now  comparatively  rare — a  higher- 
blooded,  and,  as  all  admit,  an  inferior  caste,  has  been 
substituted — the  racing  hunter  fills  the  stables  that 
formerly  were  occupied  by  the  old  Roscommon  weight- 
carrier — and  in  a  few  years  this  celebrated  and  valuable 
animal  will  be  seldom  seen.  The  number  of  English 
thorough-bred  horses  introduced  within  the  last  thirty 
years  into  the  Connaught  racing  studs,  gradually  in- 
troduced a  sHght  and  unserviceable  hybrid — and,  too 
late,  gentlemen  discovered  the  error  of  endeavouring 
to  procure  a  cross,  which  should  combine  increased 
speed  with  those  durable  qualities  that  alone  can  enable 
a  horse,  under  reasonable  weight,  to  live  with  fast  hounds 
in  a  country  where  they  can  go  for  miles  without  a 
check,  and  where  the  leaps  are  always  severe,  and 
occasionally  tremendous. 

Of  the  riders,  it  may  be  observed  that,  much  as  Con- 
naught  has  been  celebrated  for  desperate  horsemanship, 
no  charge  of  degeneracy  will  lie  against  the  present 
race.  To  the  curious  in  break-neck  fencing,  I  would 
recommend  a  sojourn  with  a  Connaught  club — or  if 
that  should  be  inconvenient,  a  visit  to  the  steeple-chases 
on  the  plains  or  at  Knockcroghery  would  be  sufficient — 
he  will  there  see  six  feet  walls  especially  built  *'  for  the 
nonce,"  under  the  inspection  ot  conscious  stewards, 
who  would  give  nothing  but  honest  measure,  taken 
at  racing  speed,  and  that  too  in  the  middle  of  a  bunch 
o^  gentlemen,  who  would  ride  over  an  adopted  child  ; — 
or  let  him  join  a  drag  after  a  champagne  lunch  at  Lord 


3go  WILD   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

C.'s  ; — let  him  do  this,  and  then  form  his  estimate 
of  Connaught  horsemanship. 

A  mistake  prevails  in  England,  as  to  the  supposed 
inferiority  in  value  of  the  horses  commonly  employed 
by  the  Western  sportsmen.  I  have  seen  a  field  out, 
when,  of  twelve  horses,  ten  would  probably  average 
at  one  hundred  guineas  each  ;  and  the  remaining  two 
(brothers,  Jerry  and  Lancet)  were  reported  to  have 
cost  the  noble  owner  five  hundred  guineas  apiece. 
When  the  dangers  of  a  stone-wall  country  and  the 
desperate  riding  of  the  men  are  considered,  these  are 
indeed  sporting  prices.  And  yet  accidents  of  a  serious 
character  are  not  frequent;  every  horse  that  has  been  ridden 
to  hounds  is  generally  blemished  more  or  less  ;  but  it 
is  astonishing  in  such  a  country  and  with  such  riders, 
how  long  some  noble  hunters  have  lasted. 

The  hounds,  with  few  exceptions,  are  inferior.  They 
are  seldom  properly  kennelled,  or  regularly  hunted. 
Masters  of  hounds  in  the  West  seem  careless  to  all 
considerations  beyond  having  a  pack  that  can  go  high 
and  keep  tolerably  well  together.  In  sizing  and 
draughting  dogs  they  are  by  no  means  particular, 
and  hence  the  ensemble  of  many  a  kennel  is  materially 
injured.  In  home  management  and  field  turnout, 
they  are  infinitely  behind  their  English  brethren — ^the 
packs  are  carelessly  hunted — ^the  kennel  servants  badly 
appointed — and  I  have  met  men  upon  the  plains  able 
to  take  a  horse  over  anything  that  hand  and  heart  could 
carry  him,  who  to  a  stranger  would  appear,  from  ''  the 
wildness  of  their  attire,"  to  be  desperate  apprentices 
levanting  with  their  master's  property. 

And  yet,  after  this  eulogy  upon  the  splendid  horse- 
manship   of   the    Western   gentlemen,    it   may    appear 


HORSES    AND   HOUNDS.  39I 

singular  that  I  add,  few  of  them  ride  well  to  hounds. 
An  impatience  in  the  field,  and  the  anxiety  to  be  foremost 
where  all  are  forward,  interferes  constantly  with 
the  dogs,  and  causes  a  pressure  upon  the  pack,  very 
unfavourable  to  good  hunting.  Riding  rather  at  the 
field  than  to  the  hounds,  is  the  prevaiHng  error.  Fences 
are  crossed  which  would  be  better  evaded — horses 
unnecessarily  distressed  ;  and  I  have  seen  a  man 
actually  go  out  of  his  way  to  take  a  regular  rasper  when 
he  had  2igap  within  thirty  yards. 

Game  in  Mayo  would  be  much  more  abundant  than 
it  is  were  it  not  sadly  thinned  by  irregular  shooters, 
and  an  infinity  of  vermin.  To  prevent  the  spoliations 
of  the  former  would  be  a  difficult  task — as,  from  the 
quantity  of  wild  fowl  that  every  winter  brings  to  the 
Western  shores,  a  number  of  guerilla  sportsmen  are 
em.ployed  or  countenanced  by  the  resident  gentry ; 
to  whom  it  is  too  strong  a  temptation,  when  lying  for 
ducks,  or  stealing  upon  plovers,  to  discover  a  pack  or 
covey  grouped  upon  the  snow,  and  yet  have  sufficient 
philosophy  to  keep  the  finger  from  the  trigger.  The 
vermin,  however,  are  the  main  cause  of  the  scarcity 
of  game,  and  no  means  are  taken  to  destroy  these 
marauders.  From  the  eagle  to  the  sparrow-hawk, 
every  variety  abounds  in  the  woods  and  mountains, 
and  every  species  of  kite  and  crow  that  an  ornithologist 
would  admire,  and  a  sportsman  abominate,  infests  the 
Western  counties. 

Of  fallow  deer,  there  is  a  large  stock  in  the  parks 
throughout  the  province — and  buck-hunting  has  of 
late  seasons  been  getting  into  fashion  on  the  plains. 
I  have  already,  in  speaking  of  the  red-deer,  lamented 
the  prospect  of  their   extinction.     That  event   I   look 


392  WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

Upon  as  fast  approaching — and  I  am  convinced  that 
nothing  can  avert  this  national  calamity  but  a  vigorous 
determination  of  the  mountain  proprietors  to  extend 
protection  to  those  Hmited  herds  which  are  still  found, 
though  in  lessened  numbers,  upon  the  Alpine  heights 
bordering  on  Burrishoole  and  Tyrawley. 

Foxes  are  tolerably  abundant  in  the  hunting  districts, 
and  mischievously  so  in  the  mountains  and  islands. 
From  the  latter  any  quantity  could  be  procured,  and 
there  is  no  place  in  Britain  where  covers  could  be  so 
easily  formed,  and  stocked  with  less  trouble  and  expense. 
I  have  seen  healthy  foxes  for  days  hawked  over  the 
country  before  a  purchaser  could  be  found,  and  at  last 
disposed  of  for  a  few  shiUings.  I  once  bought  a  fine 
dog-fox  for  half-a-crown,  and,  had  I  not  become  his 
owner,  1  verily  believe  the  captor  must  have  turned  him 
out  upon  the  street. 

Hares  are  in  most  places  tolerably  plentiful  ;  in  point 
of  numbers  differing  according  to  local  situation  and 
the  relative  protection  afforded  to  them.  In  the  moors, 
the  mountain  hares  are  scarce  ;  but,  from  the  quantity 
of  winged  and  four-footed  vermin,  it  is  surprising  that 
so  many  are  occasionally  seen. 

Rabbits  abound  in  the  West  of  Ireland.  On  the 
coast,  the  immense  sand-banks  are  for  miles  perforated 
with  their  burrows — and,  notwithstanding  that  they 
are  unmercifully  abandoned  to  cur-dogs,  cats,  and 
vermin,  their  numbers  continue  unabated.  In  the 
woods  and  coppices  bush  rabbits  are  numerous,  and 
cover-shooters,  when  beating  for  woodcocks,  will  have 
their  amusement  diversified  by  many  a  running  shot. 

Other  wild  animals,  in  every  variety,  may  be  met 
with  in  parts  of  Connaught.     Badgers  and  wild  cats, 


HORSES    AND   HOUNDS.  393 

martins  and  weasels  will  be  found  in  their  customary 
haunts  ;  while  on  the  coast  and  estuaries,  the  lakes 
and  inland  waters,  seals  and  otters  are  plentiful  in  the 
extreme. 

Of  winged  game,  pheasants  and  partridges  excepted, 
I  have  already  spoken.  With  regard  to  the  first,  they 
are  scarce,  and,  it  would  appear,  difficult  to  rear  in  this 
moist  and  stormy  climate.  I  speak  only  of  the  places 
contiguous  to  the  coast,  where  the  experiment  has  been 
tried  ;  for  inland,  where  they  have  been  duly  attended 
to,  and  the  English  system  adopted,  they  have  thriven 
amazingly.  As  to  partridges,  they  are  generally  scarce, 
and  in  Erris  and  Ballycroy  almost  unknown.  In  the 
wheat  counties,  and  especially  in  certain  parts  of  Galway, 
I  believe  they  are  tolerably  abundant — but  by  com- 
parison with  the  quantity  a  sportsman  meets  in  an 
English  beat,  the  best  partridge-shooting  procurable 
in  Connaught  will  be  very  indifferent  indeed. 

My  task  is  ended — I  have  chronicled  '*  the  short 
but  simple  annals  "  of  a  sporting  summer,  passed  in 
a  remote  and  unfrequented  corner  of  the  earth,  and 
protracted  until  "  winter  and  rough  weather  "  forbade 
a  longer  stay.  Into  these  solitudes  I  carried  prejudices 
as  unfair  as  they  were  unfavourable — I  came  prepared 
to  dislike  a  people  who,  unhappily  for  themselves, 
are  little  known  and  less  regarded.  I  found  my 
estimate  of  their  character  false,  for  kindnesses  were 
returned  tenfold,  and  the  native  outbreakings  of  Milesian 
hospitality  met  me  at  every  step.  What  though  the 
mountaineer  had  nothing  but  his  potato-basket  to 
offer — it  was  freely  open  to  my  hand.  Did  I  wander 
from  the  road  }  his  loy*  was  left  in  the  furrow,  and 
*  Loy,  a  narrow  spade. 


394 


WILD  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 


he  ran  miles  to  put  me  in  the  right  path.  If  it  rained 
and  I  sheltered  in  a  cabin,  the  hearth  was  swept,  the 
driest  log  placed  upon  the  fire,  and  the  bed-covering 
taken  off  to  keep  my  saddle  from  the  shower.  If  possible, 
my  wishes  were  anticipated — and  labour  was  unheeded 
when  my  pleasure  or  comfort  could  be  attained. 

One  incident  I  must  mention,  for  it  marks  the 
character  of  this  simple  and  devoted  peasantry.  It 
was  the  hottest  of  the  dog-days,  and  we  had  toiled 
over  a  barren  moor,  and  missed  some  packs  that  we 
were  aware  were  in  that  neighbourhood.  A  hill  of 
most  discouraging  altitude  was  before  us — and  as  its 
face  was  difficult  beyond  description,  I  hesitated  to 
attempt  it.  But  beyond  it  was  a  land  of  promise — 
a  valley  where  wonders  might  be  expected — and  malgre 
fatigue,  I  did  muster  courage  for  the  ascent.  I  gave 
my  gun  to  a  young  peasant  who  acted  as  my  henchman, 
and,  as  he  was  already  loaded  heavily,  I  observed  him 
stagger  more  than  once  before  we  gained  the  summit. 
Throughout  the  day  he  never  left  my  side — when  the 
river  was  forded,  he  led  the  way — and  yet  I  observed 
that  he  was  unusually  flushed,  and  at  times  sighed  heavily. 
When  we  reached  the  cabin,  he  tottered  to  a  seat,  and 
the  next  moment  became  insensible.  Then,  and  not 
till  then,  the  truth  was  disclosed  :  he  had  been  attacked 
with  measles  on  the  preceding  night  ;  but  rather  than 
surrender  his  post  to  another,  he  actually,  and  under 
the  fever  of  the  disease,  worked  for  twelve  hours 
beneath  a  burning  sun.  Old  Antony,  by  some  simple 
means,  brought  the  eruption  plentifully  to  the  skin, 
and  in  another  week  my  gallant  henchman  was  at  my 
side,  without  any  apparent  trace  of  lassitude. 

I  have  left  these  mountains,  and  never  shall  1  enjoy 


HORSES    AND   HOUNDS.  395 

the  unalloyed  excitement — the  calm,  luxurious  solitude, 
which  I  found  among  their  wastes.  What  has  re- 
finement to  offer  me  in  exchange  ?  Will  the  over- 
stocked preserve  replace  the  moorland  chase^  with  its 
glorious  ridge  of  purple  highlands — its  silver  lake, 
and  sparkling  river — my  wild  followers — my  tried 
friends — and  the  dear  cabin  and  its  snowy  tent,  peeping 
from  the  dark  expanse  of  heather,  like  a  white  sea-bird 
from  the  lap  of  ocean  ?  Alas  !  nothing  will  compensate 
for  these — or  give  me  an  equivalent  for  the  joyous  inter- 
course with  kindred  spirits,  which  I  realized  and  left 
in  the  wilds  of  Bally croy. 


THE  END, 


NOTES  ON   SOME  IRISH  WORDS 

USED    IN    WILD    SPORTS    OF   THE   WEST. 


Maxwell,  though  he  must  have  been  listening  to  Irish 
spoken  round  him  every  day  of  his  life,  does  not  appear 
to  have  really  understood  it,  though  he  picked  up  a 
number  of  words,  the  correct  spelling  of  most  of  which 
is  given  here  : — 

"  Sha  sha  "  =  Y  &^'o,  'f  gat),  i.e.^  ''  it  is,  it  is."  This 
sometimes  answers  to  the  English  ''  yes,"  but  only  when 
the  verb  "is  "  is  employed. 

Avorneen  —  A  niui|\nTn,  i.e.,  "  darling." 

Page  23,  Hamish  is  the  vocative  case  of  Shamus 
i.e.,  "  James."  Maxwell  confounded  the  nominative  and 
vocative.        Hamish-a-neilan    =    Sex^tnAf    aw    Oiie^in. 

Bawn  =  b^n,  white. 
Page  24,  bokkogh  =  hACAt  ;  *'  lame." 
Page  30,  clachan  =  "  a  village,"  from  clach  or  cloch 
"  a  stone,"  is  more  common  in  Scotland  than  Ireland. 
I*age  33,  cus  dhu  =  cof  -out!),  i.e.,  black  foot. 

Page  36,  briddawn  =  b|\A*oxxn,  a  salmon,  as  if  written 
blAioD^n  with  a  broad  b. 

Page  37,  mona  mon  diaoul  =-.  xn^AWAm  6'n  'oix^b^t,  ie., 
"  my  soul  from  the  devil,"  a  curse  turned  adroitly  into  a 
blessing. 

Mortien  Beg  =  m^it\cin  X)eA^  =  Little  Martin. 

Page  41,  Shawn  a  tra  buoy  .—  SeAn  nA  cf^g'  bui-de. 

Page  56,  Tiggim  Tigue  Thigien  =  Utii5;eAnn  Zax)^ 
UAi-Osin.  The  m  in  the  first  word  ought  to  be  n. 
Maxwell's  ear  played  him  false. 

396 


NOTES   ON    SOME   IRISH   WORDS    USED  397 

Page  ^y,  calliogh  =  CAittex.\6,  often  translated  in 
Connacht  as  "  presty." 

Page  91,  pieberagh  =  piob^ijAe.  The  gh  ought  to  be 
omitted,  there  is  no  guttural  sound. 

Page  95,  boUogh  =  x^aXXac^  "  speckled  spotted/' 
Maxwell  means  bollav  =  b^tb,  dumb  or  stuttering. 

Page  129,  Cead  Fealtagh,  a  dreadful  spelling  for  the 
sound  of  ''  Caed  Faultia  "  =  Cqa-o  police,  '*  a  hundred 
welcomes.'' 

Page  141,  leprehawn  =  teitpt\io6^n,  probably  derived 
from  Ui5-co]\p^n  "small  bodied  one,"  a  little  fairy. 

Page  142,  farsett  =  pex\ffxM*o  "  a  tide  way."  Belfast 
is  a  corruption  of  Bel-farsett.  In  Irish,  t)eAt-^eitifce, 
or  the  "  mouth  of  the  farsett." 

Page  146,  for  dignita  tern  read  dignitatem  ;  Page  153, 
for  "  but  not"  read  "not  but." 

Page  167  drimindhu  is  a  poem  and  air,  in  Irish 
•ot^tiitnfionn  "oub,  i.e.,  ''  the  black  white- backed,"  a  name 
for  a  pet  cow,  but  allegorical  of  Ireland. 

Page  171,  cota  more  =  cou^  mop,  "  great  coat." 

Page  185,  middoge,  in  Irish  tni 0-005,  ^^^^  apparently  a 
formidable  dagger,  Scotch  Gaelic  "  biodag,"  which  is  the 
same  word,  but  now  fallen  from  its  high  estate,  and 
often  used  of  any  old  knife. 

Page  193,  boollie,  Irish  bUAite,  "  a  milking  or  herding 
place  for  cows." 

Page  210,  crughadore  =  cjAoCA-ooifi,  *'  a  hangman,"  ; 
mogh-a-droul,  perhaps  for  triAc  An  *oiAbxMl,  "son  of  the 
devil." 

Page  218,  neil  an  skeil  a  gau  maun  =  ni't  Aon  fcit 
x^5x^m  x^nn,  "  I  have  no  skill  in  it."  Maxwell  has  joined 
the  m  to  the  wrong  word.  He  does  this  twice,  which 
shows  he  had  little  knowledge  of  Irish. 

Page  218,  far  a  gurta  =  peiifi  a  softcxx,  ''  the  famine 
grass  ;"  some  people  say  pe<\|\  a'  %oyx:a,  "  the  famine 
man." 


398  NOTES   ON  SOME   IRISH   WORDS    USED. 

Page  219,  Eimineein  =  ^x^moinnin,  "Little  Edmund." 

Page  223,  tho  she  mur  tho  she,  agus  neil  she  gun 
lought  =  x:a  f  1  m^jA  zA  fi,  -A^iif  ni'l  fi  g^n  locc,  ''  she  is 
as  she  is,  and  she's  not  without  fault." 

Page  233,  craig  na  moina  does  not  seem  to  mean  rock 
of  slaughter. 

Page  247,  ceade  fealteagh  (See  page  129) 

Page  247,  cur  coddiogh  ? 

Page  250,  patre  o'  pee,  probably  from  the  French 
"  battre  de  pieds.  For  acoronach  read  ''  a  coronach/'  the 
last  being  more  Scotch  than  Irish. 

Page  280,  Rookaun  =  \\ucAn,   "  a  row." 

Page  302,  petka  more  =  ?  pice  is  a  pike,  to  stab  with, 
but  the  fish  is  "  liiif  "  or  ''  giof  05,"  so  it  is  only  in  a 
translation  there  would  be  any  cross-purposes. 

Page  327,  neil  an  skil  a  gau  maun,  (See  page  218.) 

Page  333,  badahust,  hanam  on  dioul  =  bi  -oo  tofc, 
ti'^n^m  o'n  -oiAbAl,  i.e.,  "  be  silent,  your  soul  from  the 
devil.     (See  page  37). 

Page  335,  skuddawn,  the  Western  pronunciation  of 
fCAX)AW,  a   "  herring." 

Page  336,  line  3,  for  "  word  "  read  "  world." 

Page  341,  crowour  keough  =  c|\ex)i5AitA  cAot,  i.e.,  blind 
woodcock. 

Page  346,  Nora  crina,  a  well-known  song  and  air.  Hoiaa 
cfiotixi,  pronounced  Nora  creeona,  "  wise  Nora." 

Page  351,  crowour  keough  beg  ~  c|\Ae<vti)An  c^oc  t)e<\5. 

Page  359,  kearne,  perhaps  ceite^lwAcli,  which 
originally  meant  a  foot-soldier. 

Page  375,  fodeeins  —  Irish,  pOi-oini,  i.e.,  ''little  sods." 
i.e.,  small  estates  or  farms. 


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